The good people of NewsMax are trying to get their readers upset!

The Jakarta Peace Conference — with activists representing social movements and networks from 26 countries in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, Latin and North America — came together in Jakarta, Indonesia to call for an international boycott of U.S. products on July 4, 2004.

Holy boycott Batman, we bet NewsMax has lots of evidence that all them mean foreigners are stickin’ it to America!

In South Africa, the Iraq Action Committee of South Africa has called for a boycott of American and British products to protest the bombing of Iraq, with support from the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa.

Exports to South Africa 2002: US$: 2.5bn. 2003: US$2.8bn.

Almost one out of four people in the Asia-Pacific region said they have avoided purchasing American brands, according to a recent survey of 1,000 by the Leo Burnett ad agency. The agency polled consumers in India, China, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Exports to China increased by US$6bn in 2003 compared to 2002. India: US$4.1bn to US$4.9bn. South Korea: US$22.5bn to US$24bn. Indonesia: US$2.6bn to US$2.5bn (the boycott is working!) Philippines: US$7.2bn to US$8bn.

Much of NewsMax’s evidence looks like this:

In Malaysia, there is reportedly a drive to boycott U.S. products … In Britain, the ExxonMobil Corp., known as Esso in Europe, has reportedly conceded that an activist boycott has hurt its sales. … In Saudi Arabia, Saudi women have reportedly targeted U.S. cosmetic brands …

And much of that:

there is an ongoing movement for a boycott of Coca Cola … In France, an enterprising Muslim has come up with the brand name “Mecca Cola” to replace Coca-cola. … In Hungary, Women for Environment and Green Women have joined a boycott against Shell [sic,] Esso, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Pepsi and Coca Cola. … In Portugal, there has been an ongoing boycott movement, with some of the companies targeted being Esso, Shell [double sic,] BP [triple sic,] Coca-Cola … Colombian labor and human rights activists are pushing a Coca Cola

Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald’s anyone?

Some of the companies most symbolic of America haven’t found any effect on sales […]

“We have seen no impact from any sort of anti- Americanism,” said Nani Beccalli, General Electric Co.’s president and chief executive for Europe who’s based in Brussels.

“We have consciously looked for it and found none,” said Niel Golightly, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co. in Europe. […]

AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, hasn’t experienced any backlash, said Jacquie Young, a spokeswoman in Fort Worth, Texas, pointing to a 21 percent gain in passenger traffic on international routes in March. […]

Nike Inc., the world’s biggest maker of athletic footwear, said profit in the quarter ended Feb. 29 surged 61 percent and sales rose the most in six years, climbing 21 percent to $2.9 billion. Its fastest growth was in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where revenue was up 36 percent.

McDonald’s same-store sales have risen for five consecutive months in Europe, including a 7.7 percent increase in February, the company said March 5. Same-store sales in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa rose 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter. […]

While Middle East sales of Coca-Cola dropped 10 percent in the prelude to war in the first quarter of 2003, they have since rebounded, Malik said. Coca-Cola posted record sales of $21 billion in 2003, an 8 percent increase. Volume sales in Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East rose 5 percent last year, higher than the 2 percent growth in North America. […]

Mecca-Cola, founded in 2002 in a Paris suburb by 47-year-old Tawfik Mathlouthi, sells its soft drinks in dozens of countries including Indonesia. It sold 20 million liters in France in 2003, generating revenue of 3.57 million euros ($4.31 million). [Emphasis added]

Let’s see: Mecca-Cola sold 20 million liters in France in 2003. Carbonated bevrage sales in France for that year amounted to 13.3 billion liters. Yeah, that sounds like a really big deal.

If there is a meaningful boycott going on, we sure can’t find any evidence. Not that there’s anything new here.

Added: French lover Pierre at the Dark Window has the goods on related NewsMax developments.