The Irish originated the term boycott during the 1880s land wars, but now the Danes have taken the boycott digital.<\/p>\n
As Donald Trump<\/a> steps up his campaign to take over Greenland<\/a>, part of the three-country Kingdom of Denmark<\/a>, 21-year-old Danish programmer Jonas Pipper has decided to push back with his app: UdenUSA or NonUSA.<\/p>\n He got the idea nine months ago after discovering a \u201cBoycott USA\u201d Facebook group with almost 100,000 members. <\/p>\n That was when Pipper realised there was \u201cno tool to allow people to scan a product to know where it comes from\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not because we necessarily say you have to boycott, we just create the opportunity to have more clarity [about product origin], and then it\u2019s up to consumers what they want to do,\u201d said Pipper to DRpublic television.<\/p>\n The app\u2019s website, udenusa.uk, is more explicit in its politics, asking visitors: \u201cAre you supporting Trump when you shop?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time you buy an American product,\u201d it adds, \u201cyou indirectly support a system that works against many of the values we cherish in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the most downloaded free app on the Danish Apple store. <\/p>\n As the US raises the stakes<\/a> on Greenland, Pipper says interest has surged in the app he co-developed with programming partner Malthhe Hensberg on the small Danish island of Mors in western North Jutland.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Trump says he wants to build the \u2018greatest Golden Dome\u2019 over Greenland in Davos addressOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The app is not without a few geeky touches. Users who scan a product using their camera phone are then confronted with the message: \u201cNow hacking into the Pentagon … no, wait, don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n Pipper is a part-time app developer, now on a sabbatical year from school and working in a local grocery store.<\/p>\n Danish economist Louise Aggerstr\u00f8m Hansen of Danske Bank has warned that the complicated nature of globalised supply chains means boycotts are not as clear-cut as they used to be.<\/p>\n Just 1.2 per cent of Danish food comes directly from the US, she said, while many US trademarked products are manufactured under licence in Denmark.<\/p>\n Even with such complications, Danish behavioural scientist Pelle Guldborg Hansen said people still turn to boycotts to overcome feelings of helplessness in the face of geopolitical developments.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this case it is about us and Greenland, and then you just want to do something with your anger \u2013 no matter how small,\u201d he told DR. \u201cMore and more people see changing their consumption patterns as something they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n