Black Friday is also Buy Nothing Day.

The Friday after Thanksgiving marks an important day for businesses and shoppers as it is the biggest sale event of the year that opens the Christmas shopping season both in the US and worldwide. However, as we just got over the Black Friday craze, we wanted to take a step back from all the shopping frenzy and draw attention to a counter-event celebrated on the same day: Buy Nothing?Day!

How did it emerge?

Buy Nothing Day was founded in Vancouver by artist Ted Dave in 1992 as a backlash against Black Friday and the consumerism craziness in the US. It was also subsequently promoted by a media foundation, Adbusters, with a commercial that presented a greedy pig and a message that says, “The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, ten times more than a Chinese person, and thirty times more than a person in India. We are the most voracious consumers in the world, a world that could die because of the way we North Americans live. Give it a rest! November 23rd is Buy Nothing Day.”

Currently, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated internationally to highlight the importance of the devastating effects of consumerism on our planet by challenging everyone to spend 24 hours without shopping.

The age of consumption and the effects of the “Transactional Culture” in our lives

According to BlackFriday.com, Black Friday 2021 (Thanksgiving plus Black Friday) raked $14.04 billion in online sales. That’s $8.9 billion spent on Black Friday. These figures should be enough to claim that consumerism is integral to our buyer behaviours and lifestyles.

The shopping haul that our society experiences in each big-sale event prove that our collective culture turned out to be transactional, especially with the popularity of American culture worldwide. Give and take agreement, or “Quid Pro Quo” in Latin, is a principle in business and how we live and engage with brands and each other.

In transactional culture, everything has a specific value, as self-interest is at the core. However, that self-interest may not benefit all parties involved, including the other life and nature in the world. The transactional culture is inherently self-centred and thoughtless about any impact other than personal or institutional benefits. Therefore, the days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are inherently counteracting empathy, understanding and respect for others.

Today’s environmental concerns should make us think twice about our way of life. As a result, some brands have started to develop sustainable and fair marketing strategies to adjust to the changing dynamics, which go beyond transactionality and include the good that is done beyond the economic value generated by the transaction.

What are brands doing?

Some brands take action on Black Friday and develop marketing strategies that correlate with Buy Nothing Day’s principles. For instance, Patagonia donated all its Black Friday sales to environmental causes in 2016.

For instance, the French sustainable fashion brand Veja forever said goodbye to Black Friday in 2018 and announced that they would not do any discount campaigns promoting consumerism.

Also, brands should be aware that even if it is difficult to stop people from shopping on Black Friday, choosing slow fashion brands instead of fast fashion ones that trigger consumerism is also an option among the new generations.

A recent report shows that 73% of Millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable brands. Therefore, brands need to keep up with new trends and changing behaviours of customers to navigate an up-to-date marketing strategy.

Not participating in Black Friday is also a solid strategic decision, which may drop sales for a single day, but increase brand value and respect in the longer term. What does your brand prioritise, quick sales or long-standing reputation and value?

Reach out to us and let's talk how pakt | cultural discovery | london can help you navigate the nuances within the fast and slow culture to help you make more resilient strategic decisions for the future.