Ian Carroll is developing an app (often referred to as Buy’r) intended to empower consumers to “vote with their dollar” by identifying corporations tied to BlackRock and encouraging boycotts.
The idea is that a user can scan a product’s barcode or look up a brand, and the app will reveal whether BlackRock has a financial stake in its parent company or related companies. Facebook+2Instagram+2 If BlackRock is an investor, the app would then flag the product (or brand) as one to avoid, thus giving consumers actionable information about how their purchasing habits intersect with large institutional investment power.
Carroll has described the app as being “on the home stretch” toward launch, and he has provided updates via livestreams and social media. The broader ambition is to create market pressure by making investment ownership visible to end-users, encouraging people to redirect their spending toward companies unentangled with financial giants like BlackRock.