TEMA: Generation Jesus
Danish students come up with anti-USA app
As the Greenland conflict continues, the Danish people are taking actions against Trump and the US. With “UdenUSA” Jonas Pipper and Malthe Hensberg made an app for daily use, to avoid buying US products in Danish grocery stores.
The Greenland conflict is dominating the news of the last weeks. With Trumps threating to overtake the island, people started big protests around the world, called the “Hands of Greenland” protests. Their perspective is, that a leader of another country can’t just claim a country, not even the president of the USA.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen even joined the protesters holding up signs reading “Greenland is not for sale” and “we shape the future”. This was a strong message to the US government and showed that the Greenlanders are standing together against this possible invasion.
In a recent opinion poll accomplished by the public broadcasting DR, 60 percent of the respondents said, they see the USA as an enemy. Only 17 percent still see them as an ally. The poll was made by 1.053 interviews of a representative sample of Danes aged 18 and over. This shows the big discontent towards the american government.
“UdenUSA”
When we think of the US, we quickly think about big US brands that spread around the world. As a normal consumer it’s nearly impossible to not buy US products. To make it easier separating the products, two young students from Denmark came up with an idea. An intuitive app for the daily use that detects US products.
In an interview with Co-founder Jonas Pipper, he reveals that the app isn’t new at all. It actually started about a year ago, when Trump first talked about his interest in Greenland. They basically had no users by that time, but with the topic going viral again a few weeks ago, the numbers went up.
For Jonas the objective of the app was to prevent “a tool that people could use to gain clarity when they shop.” The purpose was never to start a boycott but to lift off some weight of the shoulders of the consumers. That also worked, as the users reported back to the team.
The impact of “UdenUSA”
The general perception of the app however is different to what the numbers are saying. In Copenhagen a lot of people know about the app, but only a few really use it in their daily lifes. But with the confusion about the whole Greenland crisis and the anger about the US government raising, the app offers an interesting way of engaging politically.
But the impact the app had on their founders, is not that little. Malthe Hensberg, who created the backend development of the app, got a job in a small tech company, which he wouldn’t have without “UdenUSA”. For Jonas, he thinks he “want[s] to make more apps that help people and that are slightly less controversial and political.”
As a little tip to young consumers Joans suggested to, “think before you buy”. Do I really need that or is less enough? Because the municipal waste in Europe is still high. The average for the 27 member states was at 511 kilograms per person in 2023.
The data set on municipal waste had its last update in october 2025.
Boycotts nowadays
Boycotts are a usual practice nowadays. If it’s in music, sports or politics. For example, about the next FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada. This is due to the political development of the US. Their handling of immigration policy und the strict action by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A lot of German football fans have called for a boycott, so did representatives of lesbian and gay associations. But this is still only theoretical.
Last year there was a boycott happening in Spain. The Sónar-Festival located in Barcelona attracts over 100.000 visitors from all over the world every year. The accusation was, that the festival would support Israeli companies and with that the war in Gaza indirectly. The consequence was that 50 till 70 artists cancelled their performance, but it had little effects on the visitor numbers. The festival itself distanced itself from its parent company KKR beforehand and took a clear stance against genocide narratives.
This article is for a middle aged audience in Germany and could be published on tagesschau on their foreign news section.
