IT’S Black Friday and it’s sure to go with a bang but there is another approach rising in popularity, aiming to turn the tide against consumerism and overspending 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 discounted goods.
However?
It is actually thought that the saying likely took flight in the 1950s in Philadelphia in the US 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, with stores adding more and more sales and special offers to make the most of the abundance of shoppers.
How are things looking for 2021 here?
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 a third - 32 per cent - on the pre-pandemic 2019. The total spend could hit about £362.6m 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.
How does it work?
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, amid growing climate concerns. 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.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel