The app’s growth points to a grassroots backlash in Denmark, where political resistance to Trump’s Greenland proposal has spilled into everyday consumer decisions.
A Danish app that helps consumers identify and boycott U.S. products has seen a surge in users after President Donald Trump renewed calls for the United States to acquire Greenland, prompting a backlash in Denmark.
User numbers for Made O’Meter jumped by about 1,400% this month after Trump raised the Greenland issue again while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to mobile analytics firm Appfigures.
The app ranked among the most downloaded in Denmark, recording an estimated 11,000 downloads across Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms in January.
For comparison, the Denmark iOS App Store typically sees around 200,000 downloads per day, Appfigures said.
Trump, who first floated the idea of acquiring Greenland during his earlier presidency, revived the proposal this week, describing it as a matter of U.S. strategic interest.
Speaking in Davos on Wednesday, he said he would not use military force but insisted he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and Danish and Greenlandic leaders have repeatedly rejected the idea of a sale.
Made O’Meter allows users to scan everyday consumer goods, from cotton swabs to cereal boxes, and uses artificial intelligence to determine whether a product is linked to a U.S. company.
If a product has U.S. ties, the app provides information about the company and where the item was manufactured, while also suggesting alternative products without U.S. links.
The app’s programmer, Ian Rosenfeldt, said user activity spiked sharply in recent days as Trump’s remarks drew renewed attention in Denmark. He said users uploaded just over 20,000 photos to the browser version of Made O’Meter, with similar numbers recorded on the iOS and Android apps.
Rosenfeldt said he was not surprised by the renewed interest.
“[Danish citizens] love the American people, but we don’t like the way that the government is treating Europe and Denmark, and especially not when they’re threatening on stealing Greenland,” he said.
Rosenfeldt, who is also a co-founder of Copenhagen-based digital marketing agency InboundCPH, said he launched Made O’Meter last March after joining a Facebook group focused on identifying and boycotting U.S. products.
The app initially gained traction after he promoted it within the group, before user numbers declined later in the year.
Interest surged again this week as Trump revived the Greenland issue, he said.
Rosenfeldt added that the app is free to use, despite the high costs associated with the artificial intelligence tools it relies on. Users can make voluntary donations through the app to support its operations.
Trump’s comments in Davos drew a firm response from Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who said the territory’s “sovereignty is a red line.”
While Trump has suggested that discussions with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte could include U.S. mineral rights and elements of his proposed Golden Dome missile defense system, details of any framework have not been disclosed.
Rosenfeldt said he did not expect a consumer boycott to change Trump’s position, but hoped it would encourage Danes to reconsider their purchasing habits.
“I just think that if we make a choice to not buy too much American tech products and so forth, and be a bit less naive and think everything is just fine, then we will be better off,” he said.
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