Despite being in the midst of possibly the most chaotic US Presidential Election in recent history, #BoycottWoolworths is trending number one in Australia this morning, which is… uhh, bad.
The supermarket giant has decided to team up with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which is a questionable decision at any time. But hoo boy, announcing it on US Election Day (heavily influenced by Murdoch) after half a million Australians signed a petition to request a Royal Commission into his monopoly on our media is a really, truly bad move for Woolies.
Woolworths took to LinkedIn on Wednesday to announce that they are “proud to partner” on a new campaign to help recognise people who have really helped out in 2020. The program itself isn’t too controversial, but partnering with arguably the most hated man in media is presumably a choice that the supermarket giant will soon come to regret.
“We are proud to partner with News Corp to celebrate the human stories of 2020 with Thanks A Million, and I encourage you to nominate the people who you think deserve to be thanked,” Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said.
In what I’d like to hope is just a really unfortunate coincidence for Woolworths, the campaign was announced on the final day of Kevin Rudd’s petition to launch a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media empire, which received over half a million signatures and is the most-signed petition in Australian history.
Although the petition is now closed, the message is still being spread on social media, with the hashtag #boycottwoolworths jumping straight to the number one trend on Australian Twitter, despite all of the bullshit of the US Election.
Thousands of Australians have jumped onboard the hashtag on Thursday morning to express their disappointment in Woolworths for partnering with a man who is widely regarded as a genuine threat to democracy.
In addition to #BoycottWoolworths trending, Coles and Aldi have both seen a spike on Twitter as shoppers vow to change their supermarket loyalty in a desperate attempt to avoid supporting Murdoch.
501,876 Australians signed for a #MurdochRoyalCommission. Those same 501,876 Australian will #boycottwoolworths for partnering with #NewsCorpse, join them. https://t.co/kO0KHKMpmb
— 🐈 Barbara 🖤💛❤️ #VoteYES 😷🌻 (@barbaramahle23) November 4, 2020
Boycotted as of today #boycottwoolworths – a new low partnering with #NewsCorpse https://t.co/zDLZnbo84V
— Vote YES for the Voice (@tricknn) November 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/Gatorau/status/1324085648932790272
Meanwhile, others have used News Corp’s Thanks A Million initiative to thank Kevin Rudd, in what I can only assume would be a kick in the guts for old mate Rupert if he wasn’t too rich and powerful to not have to care.
My family probably won’t #boycottwoolworths but I’ve said thanks a million to my hero @MrKRudd pic.twitter.com/Y4PGf3gPmf
— Josh Button (@PiesJosh) November 4, 2020
It’s unclear if Rudd’s efforts will actually see a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media empire, but it’s obvious that Australians have heard his message and are already taking matters into their own hands.
