It’s a backlash that reflects a new era of crisis management for the world’s biggest consumer brands — and particularly American ones — as emotionally charged shoppers conflate their businesses with government policies. Companies have issued public statements to emphasize their political neutrality. Yet the movement has steadily picked up steam in the three months since the war began, with boycott calls still spreading.

Fawaz Gerges, Middle Eastern politics professor at the London School of Economics, said the present boycotts are particularly striking because they are intense, transnational and led by youthful populations.

“So far, whether McDonald’s or Starbucks, they’re hurting,” since young people who are the big spenders are conscious of what’s happening and they feel very active and invested, said Gerges. A perception that Washington favors Israel “really affects these corporations because America is implicated and the CEOs are part of this American empire —- commercial, financial, soft-power empire.”

In Jordan, many Starbucks and McDonald’s stores are still standing largely empty even though boycotts began in October. Onlookers usually see only empty stools and booths occupied by workers, with cashiers slouched at their counters. Supermarkets in Jordan also have tags hanging on a large number of foreign brands describing them as “boycotted goods.”

In Kuwait, normally packed Starbucks outlets in busy areas have seen trickles of walk-in customers since early October. The boycott has boosted sales for homegrown coffee stores.