Anyone browsing X (formerly Twitter) during recent days encountered numerous posts from outraged users claiming that after completing purchases at various locations, they received brief but offensive messages following checkout that offered opportunities to donate money for Gaza residents.
Customer Laura Green shared on Tuesday that following her completed purchase at Athleta (owned by Gap), she received a message encouraging donations for Gaza residents. Green, outraged by political messaging mixed with consumer transactions in such one-sided fashion, published an angry Instagram post sharing her furious company response.
"Why are you raising money for families in Gaza?" she wrote indignantly, adding, "Why aren't you raising money for families in Israel? Israel was decimated by Hamas on October 7. The only people starving in Gaza are the Israeli hostages. I shouldn't see this when I check out. It will make me think about placing an order again," she concluded while tagging Athleta.
Her post caption, which accumulated hundreds of comments, stated, "Just placed an order online with Athleta. After I checked out, the option to donate to Gazan families popped up. What about Israeli families? What about Israeli children who were kidnapped and murdered? What about the hostages? How about asking for Donations to help them? I will think twice before shopping again. BRING THEM HOME!!! " she demanded.
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Green's post rapidly accumulated hundreds of comments and likes as users voiced outrage and threatened chain boycotts, noting similar messages appeared for customers purchasing AMC theater tickets.
"Another store added to my boycott list," wrote one user. "I was planning a major purchase there. How many customers will you sacrifice?" another frustrated user demanded, tagging both retailers as dozens joined the boycott threats. "This is inappropriate and completely unacceptable," others responded. "This is scandalous. This is completely wrong and I will never shop your stores again, which is what every Jewish customer should do," one user concluded.
Currently, despite the controversy and dozens of social media tags, neither Athleta nor Gap has issued official responses.
The company Rokt, issued the following statement: "A fundraising campaign for the humanitarian organization CARE.org was activated on Rokt. Rokt enables content, including advertising, to be shown on ecommerce company websites. Our role is to be a trusted intermediary, enabling our clients to decide what is shown to their customers. Our clients had not had an active role in deciding whether this campaign would be displayed. As a result, as soon as we became aware of the concerns being raised, we took down the campaign immediately. We have humans review all content that goes live on our platform and this one slipped through. The last thing we want to do is create friction around this sensitive issue."
