3 min read
OK, so I couldn’t really have a blog exploring the life of things, without looking at two of the biggest days in the retail calendar – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
How it started
Let’s start at the beginning with the first mentions of Black Friday. They are said to have occurred in Philadelphia, USA in the 1960s. The name was used by traffic police officers to describe the large crowds who descended on stores on the day after Thanksgiving.
There are more sinister origin stories. That it in fact relates to the crash of the U.S. gold market in 1869. Where two financiers, driven by personal gain, bought up as much of the nation’s gold as they could, hoping to drive prices sky-high and sell it for vast profits. Their conspiracy was discovered on a Friday, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from ‘Wall Street barons to farmers’. More sinister still is that the name originated in the 1800’s to describe the day after Thanksgiving when plantation owners in the south could buy enslaved workers at a discount.
So leaving aside it’s disturbing origins – what should we be aware of when we make that purchase or click that buy button.
Why it is a problem
I cannot claim to have consciously boycotted Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The fact that I don’t buy things on these days is largely due to being disorganised and not registering that they are happening. And also, and this is important – I have had the money to buy things that I want without relying on discounts. This is a luxury that many, many people do not have, people who are unable to buy the commodities they need, let alone want. We will come back to this.
Environmentally, it's a disaster. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the most polluting shopping days of the year. In 2020, consumers spent $9 billion shopping online, a rise of over 20% year on year. This rise was probably driven in part by lockdowns which meant all shopping was forced online, but nonetheless it makes last year's event the most polluting ever. The heavy environmental toll comes not just from the products themselves, (many of which are thrown away after a single use, or never used at all) but from the vast amount of discarded packaging and the emissions created in transporting and delivering our purchases.
And let’s spare a thought for the people who manufacture those must-have gadgets and disposable items of clothing. We can be confident the profits made by retailers over this weekend will not make their way to them. Nor to those working in the warehouses doing 16 hour shifts to fulfil our orders. It’s no accident that Make Amazon Pay is planning global action tomorrow – their demands that Amazon pays – fair wages, taxes and for its impact on the planet.
Retailers are playing with our minds, they attract us with big discounts in store and online because they know that once they have us we will not just buy the discounted goods, we will keep buying. They encourage us to consume regardless of need. Why, because aggressive capitalism demands growth at any cost and values people according to the stuff they have accumulated rather than what they do. And here is where my industry, those of us who create brands and advertise products have to understand that we are part of the problem. We manufacture desire, our aim is to make people believe that a purchase is necessary, and that it will make them a more successful and admired human being.
What can we do
So what can we do, as an industry we need to take responsibility for the role we play – let’s say no more often. And before we say yes let's look at whether an organisation values our planet and the people and places in which they operate over and above the profit they make. As individuals we can buy less, boycott more, try not to shop at Amazon because we know we shouldn’t and look after what we have. Oh and watch out for the brands who say they are not taking part, but are still offering huge discounts.
But yes Lar you can still buy that Air Fryer tomorrow, if you really need it!
A great video, US centric but explains the problem
Inspiration from the good guys
The issue with Black Friday by the Good on You – a great resource generally
Frances Jackson
Founder OPX
3 min read
OK, so I couldn’t really have a blog exploring the life of things, without looking at two of the biggest days in the retail calendar – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
How it started
Let’s start at the beginning with the first mentions of Black Friday. They are said to have occurred in Philadelphia, USA in the 1960s. The name was used by traffic police officers to describe the large crowds who descended on stores on the day after Thanksgiving.
There are more sinister origin stories. That it in fact relates to the crash of the U.S. gold market in 1869. Where two financiers, driven by personal gain, bought up as much of the nation’s gold as they could, hoping to drive prices sky-high and sell it for vast profits. Their conspiracy was discovered on a Friday, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from ‘Wall Street barons to farmers’. More sinister still is that the name originated in the 1800’s to describe the day after Thanksgiving when plantation owners in the south could buy enslaved workers at a discount.
So leaving aside it’s disturbing origins – what should we be aware of when we make that purchase or click that buy button.
Why it is a problem
I cannot claim to have consciously boycotted Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The fact that I don’t buy things on these days is largely due to being disorganised and not registering that they are happening. And also, and this is important – I have had the money to buy things that I want without relying on discounts. This is a luxury that many, many people do not have, people who are unable to buy the commodities they need, let alone want. We will come back to this.
Environmentally, it's a disaster. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the most polluting shopping days of the year. In 2020, consumers spent $9 billion shopping online, a rise of over 20% year on year. This rise was probably driven in part by lockdowns which meant all shopping was forced online, but nonetheless it makes last year's event the most polluting ever. The heavy environmental toll comes not just from the products themselves, (many of which are thrown away after a single use, or never used at all) but from the vast amount of discarded packaging and the emissions created in transporting and delivering our purchases.
And let’s spare a thought for the people who manufacture those must-have gadgets and disposable items of clothing. We can be confident the profits made by retailers over this weekend will not make their way to them. Nor to those working in the warehouses doing 16 hour shifts to fulfil our orders. It’s no accident that Make Amazon Pay is planning global action tomorrow – their demands that Amazon pays – fair wages, taxes and for its impact on the planet.
Retailers are playing with our minds, they attract us with big discounts in store and online because they know that once they have us we will not just buy the discounted goods, we will keep buying. They encourage us to consume regardless of need. Why, because aggressive capitalism demands growth at any cost and values people according to the stuff they have accumulated rather than what they do. And here is where my industry, those of us who create brands and advertise products have to understand that we are part of the problem. We manufacture desire, our aim is to make people believe that a purchase is necessary, and that it will make them a more successful and admired human being.
What can we do
So what can we do, as an industry we need to take responsibility for the role we play – let’s say no more often. And before we say yes let's look at whether an organisation values our planet and the people and places in which they operate over and above the profit they make. As individuals we can buy less, boycott more, try not to shop at Amazon because we know we shouldn’t and look after what we have. Oh and watch out for the brands who say they are not taking part, but are still offering huge discounts.
But yes Lar you can still buy that Air Fryer tomorrow, if you really need it!
A great video, US centric but explains the problem
Inspiration from the good guys
The issue with Black Friday by the Good on You – a great resource generally
Frances Jackson
Founder OPX
3 min read
OK, so I couldn’t really have a blog exploring the life of things, without looking at two of the biggest days in the retail calendar – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
How it started
Let’s start at the beginning with the first mentions of Black Friday. They are said to have occurred in Philadelphia, USA in the 1960s. The name was used by traffic police officers to describe the large crowds who descended on stores on the day after Thanksgiving.
There are more sinister origin stories. That it in fact relates to the crash of the U.S. gold market in 1869. Where two financiers, driven by personal gain, bought up as much of the nation’s gold as they could, hoping to drive prices sky-high and sell it for vast profits. Their conspiracy was discovered on a Friday, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from ‘Wall Street barons to farmers’. More sinister still is that the name originated in the 1800’s to describe the day after Thanksgiving when plantation owners in the south could buy enslaved workers at a discount.
So leaving aside it’s disturbing origins – what should we be aware of when we make that purchase or click that buy button.
Why it is a problem
I cannot claim to have consciously boycotted Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The fact that I don’t buy things on these days is largely due to being disorganised and not registering that they are happening. And also, and this is important – I have had the money to buy things that I want without relying on discounts. This is a luxury that many, many people do not have, people who are unable to buy the commodities they need, let alone want. We will come back to this.
Environmentally, it's a disaster. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the most polluting shopping days of the year. In 2020, consumers spent $9 billion shopping online, a rise of over 20% year on year. This rise was probably driven in part by lockdowns which meant all shopping was forced online, but nonetheless it makes last year's event the most polluting ever. The heavy environmental toll comes not just from the products themselves, (many of which are thrown away after a single use, or never used at all) but from the vast amount of discarded packaging and the emissions created in transporting and delivering our purchases.
And let’s spare a thought for the people who manufacture those must-have gadgets and disposable items of clothing. We can be confident the profits made by retailers over this weekend will not make their way to them. Nor to those working in the warehouses doing 16 hour shifts to fulfil our orders. It’s no accident that Make Amazon Pay is planning global action tomorrow – their demands that Amazon pays – fair wages, taxes and for its impact on the planet.
Retailers are playing with our minds, they attract us with big discounts in store and online because they know that once they have us we will not just buy the discounted goods, we will keep buying. They encourage us to consume regardless of need. Why, because aggressive capitalism demands growth at any cost and values people according to the stuff they have accumulated rather than what they do. And here is where my industry, those of us who create brands and advertise products have to understand that we are part of the problem. We manufacture desire, our aim is to make people believe that a purchase is necessary, and that it will make them a more successful and admired human being.
What can we do
So what can we do, as an industry we need to take responsibility for the role we play – let’s say no more often. And before we say yes let's look at whether an organisation values our planet and the people and places in which they operate over and above the profit they make. As individuals we can buy less, boycott more, try not to shop at Amazon because we know we shouldn’t and look after what we have. Oh and watch out for the brands who say they are not taking part, but are still offering huge discounts.
But yes Lar you can still buy that Air Fryer tomorrow, if you really need it!
A great video, US centric but explains the problem
Inspiration from the good guys
The issue with Black Friday by the Good on You – a great resource generally
Frances Jackson
Founder OPX