Issue of the day Black Friday or Buy Nothing?

IT’S Black Friday and it’s bound to go with a bang but there is another approach rising in popularity, aiming to turn the tide against consumerism and help the climate – Buy Nothing Day, and it also takes place today.

So it’s Black Friday and it’s Buy Nothing Day?

On the same day, yes.

Polar opposites! Indeed.

Black Friday came first, though? The most common theory as to the origins of “Black Friday” is that after months of operating “in the red”, the first full day of Christmas shopping – the day after Thanksgiving in the United States – sees retailers’ books go “into the black”, as holiday shoppers splash out on sales.

However?

It is actually thought that the saying likely took flight in the 1950s in Philadelphia where, besieged by shoppers in the city centre ahead of a major army and navy football game, shops became chaotic, with police enduring a “black Friday” as they struggled to contend with the chaos.

Isn’t Black Friday a negative term?

Over the years, retailers felt it was time to put a positive spin on it in Philadelphia, trying to promote it as “Big Friday”, but it didn’t catch on and Black Friday stuck and spread.

How are things looking for 2021? According to Nationwide’s forecasts, this year’s event is predicted to become the busiest shopping day on record, with spending in the UK up one-third – 32 per cent – on the pre-pandemic 2019. The total spend could hit about £362.6 million which is up 19% on last year – 2020 saw the first year-on-year drop in spending on Black Friday due to lockdown.

And it’s not just today?

The shopping bonanza stretches over the weekend and into “Cyber Monday” when online sales are expected to peak.

But there is another approach? Today is also “Buy Nothing Day”, which has been held on the same day as its polar opposite since the 1990s, when it was founded in Canada by an artist, Ted Dave, who was against the quick flip from a day of giving thanks to a day of materialism.

The rules are simple – don’t buy anything at all for 24 hours. The aim is to make people think more about their spending and to make better decisions about what they buy and where they buy it from.

It has more momentum this year? It seems to have a greater force in the wake of COP26. A spokesman for the campaign said: “As consumers we need to question the products we buy and challenge the companies who produce them. We are beginning to witness true risks to the environment and developing countries overconsumption has. Everyone should be doing their bit by taking simple proactive actions to solving the climate crisis and we believe Buy Nothing Day is a great place to start.”