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Examples of protests organized by Crowds on Demand
Executive summary
Crowds on Demand is a Los Angeles–based publicity firm that advertises organizing protests, rallies and advocacy campaigns for paying clients and whose CEO has publicly described the “protest industry” and urged transparency on who funds demonstrations [1] [2]. Reporting and company materials show examples ranging from paid street protests and corporate-targeted demonstrations to offering actors as unpaid protesters or supporters, and the company has been linked in reporting to political and private‑sector assignments though specific client lists are often not disclosed in coverage [1] [3] [4].
1. What Crowds on Demand says it does — services and self-described examples
Crowds on Demand’s own marketing lists explicit examples: organizing “impactful advocacy campaigns, demonstrations, PR stunts” including deploying protesters with signs to company headquarters, phone‑banking to pressure clients, staging hospitality for foreign delegations at the UN, and targeting a business to force clients away from an owner accused of crimes — a campaign the site describes as having driven the business to sell for a fraction of its prior value [1]. The company also advertises tactics such as supplying actors posing as fans, paparazzi, security, and protesters to create appearances of grassroots support or opposition [1] [3].
2. Media reporting: confirmed practices, contested claims, and what’s not public
News organizations have confirmed Crowds on Demand provides paid protesters and that CEO Adam Swart has discussed the business publicly, including pricing norms — Swart said assignments typically pay “in the low hundreds of dollars” per participant — but he did not disclose comprehensive client lists when interviewed [4]. Wikipedia and other outlets summarize the company’s evolution from “celebrity experience” gigs to political demonstrations and publicity stunts [3]. Available sources do not provide a full, independently verifiable catalog of every protest the firm has staffed; specific client names and complete assignments are often not publicly disclosed in the cited reporting [4] [3].
3. High‑profile controversies and allegations
Crowds on Demand has been implicated in controversies: reporting notes allegations that paid actors were used in political campaigns and demonstrations, and critics on social media and some outlets accused the firm of bolstering turnout for protests such as anti‑ICE or “No Kings” rallies — accusations the company has denied for certain events while stressing it won’t engage in illegal activity [5]. The Independent reported supporters of President Trump accused the firm of supplying paid actors to boost numbers at anti‑ICE demos and “No Kings” marches, and Adam Swart stated the company did not send activists to certain events that would have been illegal [5].
4. Company posture and calls for transparency
Adam Swart has publicly framed the phenomenon as a “protest industry” vulnerable to exploitation and has asked Congress for greater transparency on who funds demonstrations, submitting a letter urging oversight and a potential law requiring disclosure of who pays demonstrators [6] [2]. Swart says the company fields requests from across the political spectrum and has declined large offers he judged would be ineffective or harmful to the company’s image [2] [4].
5. Examples drawn from company and reporting — what we can and cannot confirm
Concrete examples in company materials include: deploying protesters and phone‑banking to pressure clients of a targeted business until it was sold; creating “positive reception” events for foreign governments at the UN; and hiring actors to pose as fans, paparazzi and security at events [1]. Media accounts note historical links or allegations — for instance, reporting has claimed Anthony Weiner paid actors during his 2013 mayoral run (not all reporting is definitive) and contemporary coverage documents the company’s role as a crowd‑for‑hire industry actor without a full public ledger of assignments [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a definitive, independently verified list of every protest Crowds on Demand has organized.
6. Takeaway and caveats for readers
The available reporting and the company’s own website make clear Crowds on Demand offers paid‑crowd services and provides several illustrative case studies of tactic use, while CEO statements and media interviews confirm the firm’s public role in the “crowd‑for‑hire” marketplace [1] [4] [2]. At the same time, major gaps remain: journalists often lack full client disclosure, and claims about specific events being staffed by the firm are sometimes disputed or unconfirmed in the cited coverage [5] [4]. Readers should weigh company promotional claims alongside independent reporting and note that transparency proposals from the CEO himself reflect both a commercial stake and a stated interest in regulating the industry [2].
If you want, I can extract and annotate every specific example named on the company’s “Protests & Rallies” page and map them to related news coverage so you can see which instances are company‑claimed versus independently reported [1] [4].