Amazon Driver Leaves Packages Upside Down to Start 'No More Smiles' Protest

An Amazon driver has started their own "No More Smiles With Amazon" movement, inspiring other drivers to deliver the boxes upside down to protest the company's working conditions.

The Amazon delivery driver who goes by AugustaSummerz on Reddit sparked the movement by posting a collage showing numerous boxes left with the trademark Amazon smile facing downwards so that it looks like a frown on the Reddit group r/AmazonDSPDrivers.

The subreddit is a group for DSP van drivers of Amazon and has more than 8,000 members. DSP drivers, or Delivery Service Partners, work for independent delivery organizations that help deliver Amazon packages but are not employed by Amazon directly.

A Reddit user replied to the photo of the boxes upside down and said: "Me and a coworker were just talking about doing this yesterday, but yeah I'm with it!"

The original poster, AugustaSummerz, replied and said: "I don't think Amazon would ever notice it, [because] once the photo is sent right away to the customer, it gets deleted in our rabbit, but if every DA is doing it and there is a chance it will get noticed."

A few Amazon drivers said they have also been leaving the boxes upside down for a few months already, or if not, they would now do so.

The thread also came up with new names for the movement, with one Reddit user commenting "Down with Frowns," while another suggested, "Delivering Frowns."

Newsweek has contacted Amazon for comment.

A photo of the upside-down boxes was shared to Twitter by journalist Dave Lee, who said: "Here's hoping DoorDash drivers never try this."

Amazon has operations in all 50 states and employs around 950,000 people in the U.S., with no workers currently unionized, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reports that Amazon is the second-biggest U.S. employer after Walmart, though it is expected to overtake the retailer in the next few years.

Amazon workers in Alabama have voted on whether or not to unionize and join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, and the vote is currently being counted. If the vote passes, the Alabama workers would be the first to establish a union at an Amazon facility in the U.S.

Recently, Amazon workers have been complaining about working conditions, with reports circulating of employees having to urinate in bottles.

President Joe Biden has expressed his support for the workers unionizing and said on Twitter in March: "Workers in Alabama—and all across America—are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace. It's a vitally important choice—one that should be made without intimidation or threats by employers. Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union."