Boycotting Black Friday should be a good thing. Companies need to reign themselves in and stop with the opening super early, as well as stop opening on Thanksgiving. But, hey, they wouldn’t do it if some people wanted to shop and buy. It seriously inconveniences employees, though. But, to close for Hotcoldwetdry? Silly
Why Some Brands Are Leading A Black Friday Boycott
Beauty company Deciem is calling for “a moment of nothingness†this Black Friday.
The company, which owns cult cosmetic brand The Ordinary, will close all its stores and take down its website for the whole day on Nov. 29. The aim, according to the company, is to push back against our relentless buying of stuff.
“Hyper-consumerism poses one of the biggest threats to the planet,†reads Deciem’s Instagram statement, “and flash sales can often lead to rushed purchasing decisions, driven by the fear of a sell-out. We no longer feel that Black Friday is an earth or consumer-friendly event.†Employees will still get paid for the day, a Deciem spokeswoman confirmed.
Now, you could say that this sounds like environmental mumbo jumbo, and, let’s face it, some consumerism is bad for the environment. But, this is all code word, it’s duckspeak.
Companies actively sabotaging themselves on one of the biggest consumer days of the year may seem unusual, but Deciem is not unique. For the past five years, outdoor retailer REI has closed its stores on Black Friday, urging its 14,000 staff — who also still get paid — to spend the day outside.
Meanwhile, in France, a collective of 200 brands, organized under the banner “Make Friday Green Again,†has agreed to avoid any discounts on the day and instead donate 10% of their sales to nonprofits. “The aim is to denounce Black Friday and what’s behind it. It’s to educate consumers about a better consumption,†said Diane Scemama, the co-founder of ethical marketplace DreamAct, one of the brands taking part.
These moves fit with a trend of companies looking to take a stand on social and environmental issues: telling us to slow us down, to think carefully about our consumption, to consider whether we really need the things we buy, and in REI’s case, to prioritize time with family and in nature. And what better time to do it than Black Friday?
I’m happy to think about things to buy, I can avoid these companies. They do have a point about spending time with family. So give them kudos for that.
But when it comes to messages around environmental impact, it gets knottier. Companies can appear to deliver messages of responsible consumption, while at the same time tempting us to buy more.
REI’s anti-Black Friday marketing embraces messages around consumption and climate change. This year, it launched a campaign called “Opt to Act,†encouraging employees and customers to take simple actions to reduce their environmental impact. Deciem co-founder and CEO Nicola Kilner, meanwhile, speaks of needing “to feel comfortable in knowing that we considered the bigger impact of our actions.â€
Yet, neither of these companies has ditched deals altogether. Deciem is offering a 23% discount for the whole month (apart from during the blackout). Meanwhile, REI is offering up to 30% off between Nov. 15 and 25. Both defend their sales as providing value to their customers without pushing them into rushed purchasing decisions.
Oops.
But, hey, perhaps we could back down on the consumerism, buying things simply because they are a deal, things we do not need.
