Several websites and apps have been made for enabling consumers and organizations avoid U.S. products more easily. On reddit, the group "r/BuyFromEU" has around 200,000 members as of April 2025.On the subreddit, for example practical guides listing alternative European products are being shared. The website "Go European" launched by volunteers in February aims to make it easy to see which products are largely from the U.S. and which alternatives to these exist. The similar website European Alternatives launched in 2021 has seen a surge of users. The mobile app and browser extension "BuyEuropean" makes it easy for consumers to find out the exact origin of products and also shows relevant European alternatives when scanning or looking up products.
I've personally tried to minimize my US products as much as possible. There are a few things that I cannot let go of because there are no other equivalents in my country.
Analysts have compared the 2025 boycott to previous consumer movements, including the renaming of french fries to "freedom fries" in the United States during 2003 when France opposed the invasion of Iraq.[4]
As someone who was an adult in the US at the time, these things are not remotely comparable in size or scope. Freedom fries was as a concept was mocked even within groups that were in favor of the war and angry at France (at least where I was).
When proselytizing, go where the sinners are. I don't understand why that's controversial.
Talking about boycotting the US on Lemmy is mostly just preaching to the choir: We're already all anti-US, long socks-wearing pirate furries playing on our Linux Thinkpads.
It’s ironic how people on r/buyfromeu claim it’s a bad idea to move to Lemmy as “it would diminish the visibility of the message” thus fulfilling the self-prophecy of being stuck on corporate American social media.
I think the idea that we need lots of people on these social media sites is a myth. Just a few 1,000 people is enough for a functional forum site, and you probably just need 5-10 active users to make a subreddit or Lemmy community viable.