This Black Friday: Send Corporate America a Message and Just Say No

This coming Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is a bleak day in the United States known as Black Friday. I sadly felt compelled to write about it last year, and this year am hitting it ahead of the curve and hopefully with a piece of advice.

Black Friday, as many of you may know, is the day after Thanksgiving where prices are slashed and the official buying frenzy that is the Christmas shopping season begins. It will be marked by sales, hustling and bustling, and sadly, if prior years are any indication, a few injuries and perhaps even a few deaths.

I don’t know really where to begin in discussing how wrong Black Friday is, because it’s wrong in so many ways. We’re killing each other over a few dollars off on a doll? Seriously? As far as I’m concerned, it’s nothing more than a one-day event that shows corporations how we the people have bought fully into the concept that capitalism is king. It’s the day where we head out in droves and show them–yes, we believe your commercials and your ads, and are willing to empty our wallets and weapons in search of that all-elusive state we call happiness.

Sadly, nothing for sale on Friday will get us there. There is no product, no special, and no “thing” that will truly make us happy in the full sense of the word. Sure that new Wii will bring us a smile for a while, but only until we tire of it, or the next greatest game comes along, and then we’ll be jealous of those who have the new one, and wonder how we can jettison the old. It’s a vicious cycle–one that once you’ve bought into, you will have trouble getting out of.

So Friday, I along with the help of AdBusters, am asking you to step out of it all and stop. On November 27th (Nov 28th internationally), Adbusters is sponsoring their Buy Nothing Day, a 24-Hour Moratorium on Consumer Spending. The concept is simple. Don’t buy anything. Send corporations the message that you can’t be bought and you won’t buy in, and simply say no. Spend the day outdoors, with a friend, take a hike, even clean the house, just don’t buy anything. It’s that simple.

There are all sorts of easy ways to go about doing this on their site and many groups are sponsoring their own happenings, from sit-ins to credit card cut up events. Civil/Consumption disobedience at it’s finest I say. Adbusters has held these days in the past (for 20 years in fact), but this year, they have added a new twist. If you are already on the train, amp it up a bit and add in no driving, no flying, and no electricity. Step off the grid for a day and see how it goes. I’m a big advocate of this concept to begin with, giving yourself a little taste of going without is a great way to convince yourself to use what you’ve got more wisely. And the candlelight creates a nice ambiance to boot.

So this Friday, put away your wallets, holster those weapons, and turn off your lights. Step out for a day and let us know how it goes. I for one, am planning on not buying a turnip twadller, a sweater fuzzball remover, and the latest Mac laptop, just to name a few things.

How about you?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Grainne O.

6:39AM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

I don't live in the US, and I spend any spare cash I have goes on adopting and fostering cats so I won't be participating in this madness. However, it's hardly the shop owners fault if the shoppers are acting like lunatics over reduced-price items. Large corporations are not the source of all evil. Each human is responsible for his or her small contribution to the world, and large corporations are just groups of people; some are good, some not so good.

send a green star

Marty P.

5:37AM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

While I am not in US on that day, I urge my daughter to shop but only for what she needs to make it through the winter....boots, a coat.....some sweaters. Stuff is, selectively, cheaper....and with luck within her budget. But if she is without a job.....then the coat may have tobe on hold, but shoes and boots may not wait a heavy winter......

sandra m.

6:31PM PDT on Aug 5, 2011

I went once and was absolutely shocked to see how people acted!....NEVER AGAIN.People are violent and resort to the most awful things to get a bargain! One guy in a Wheelchair had one of the very few T.V'S on his lap and someone grabbed it and ran. SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS,HOLIDAY'S,....GOODWILL?.......I THINK NOT! If I was to further participate in "Black Friday"....I feel I would be accepting ALL the bad behavior and lunacy the stores promote.

Colin H.

5:17AM PST on Dec 26, 2010

Noted!!

KS G.

12:52AM PST on Nov 28, 2010

Thanks for the article.

Jordan D.

3:54PM PST on Nov 25, 2010

God, that depressed me. I'm not very "anti-materialic" I think it's just fine, in fact, great, when people have objects that make them happy. I don't think it should be discouraged, and I don't think we should live life keeping ourselves away from products we would enjoy. Although I don't participate, I think that Black Friday shows how much people love each other. Honestly, they're fighting stampedes for *gifts* For *each other*

Ian W.

3:11PM PST on Nov 25, 2010

Brilliant article. The whole of the western world is hypnotised by consumerism. The very phrase "consumer therapy" sickens me. I'd like to see Black Friday and Christmas itself hailed as "no shopping" days where people spent time with their family and friends showing the love that can't be baught or sold. Corporations around the world have got us hooked up! We're cash cows, ruthlessly and remorselessly milked until we're used up. It's not just America. I live in the UK and it's the same pitiful story. Say NO to rampant consumerism. Buying endless stuff and throwing it away isn't "fun". It's stupid! It's just more landfill fodder and wage slavery in an endless cycle of drudgery and pollution.

Trish K.

2:27PM PST on Nov 25, 2010

Only people on this and other like sites will go along with something like this. Have you been in the real world lately ?
People are in a frenzy and they are freaky shoppers and drivers.

Dale B.

6:45AM PST on Nov 25, 2010

This is very easy for me since I don't recall ever shopping on black Friday. All I need to hear is it is the busiest shopping day of the year and there's no way I want to be part of that.

There is a new China Mart (aka Walmart) close to where I live that is open on Thanksgiving day. It's a shame the people who work there have to work on a day when they should be home with their families.

Robert O.

4:16PM PST on Nov 24, 2010

Good idea! Corporate America doesn't give a damn about the rest of us even though they should be thanking us for their success. (Any lack of success can be blamed on their own stupidity, greed and fiscal irresponsibility.) They only care about their profits and bottom line.