I’m doubling down on my post last year titled PLAGUE CLEARANCE! Because, well, it’s more truer now.
I really had to go (reluctantly) to Best Buy this Wednesday morning (the day before Thanksgiving) in WeHo to buy a new power cord for my Chromebook. Nothing gift-y or holiday-y, just a basic, rudimentary supply run. Why do power cords always suck, btw? ANYWAY, it was a scary ghost town. But the staff? Mania-fueled zombies with dorito bags and cell phones. As I was there, I watched them frantically swapping out price tags. I scored a $16 saving on what would have been a $40 total. Not bad.
Then, I thought (as I do), wait, they would have overcharged me had I shopped in May.
Black Friday History Mystery
Although the 30-day period between Thanksgiving and Christmas accounts for most retailers’ entire profit for the year, it is becoming a less powerful retailing trick.
Analyst Marshal Cohen of The NPD Group claimed in 2020 that Black Friday is declining in favor of online shopping,[19] and that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this process. The pandemic also resulted in holiday deals being offered over a longer period of time, even as early as October.[20] Fewer people shopped in person on Black Friday 2020, and most business took place online. Market research company Numerator said sellers of clothing, tools and other items considered nonessential during lockdowns were not promoted as heavily because lower production meant less available to sell.[21] Adobe Analytics reported that online sales reached $9 billion in 2020, 22% more than the previous year. Foot traffic to stores fell 48% in 2020 from last year, according to RetailNext, while Sensormatic Solutions reported a 52% decrease.[22]
Those are some major declines. And of course, this being America, this end-stage capitalism chaos claims lives. And causes irreparable environmental damage, mass psychosis and a celebration of the most unattractive avarice, gluttony and just pure fucking greed. Which is why, gentle reader, cgk.ink will never participate in the insanity.
alt.shopping
adbusters.org
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment[1] organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as “a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.”[2]
Buy Nothing Day
The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 “as a day for society to examine the issue of overconsumption.” In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called “Black Friday“, which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States.[5] In 2000, some advertisements by Adbusters promoting Buy Nothing Day were denied advertising time by almost all major television networks except for CNN.[1] Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Finland.
Adbusters has launched numerous international campaigns, including Buy Nothing Day, TV Turnoff Week and Occupy Wall Street,[6] and is known for their “subvertisements” that spoof popular advertisements. In English, Adbusters has bi-monthly American, Canadian, Australian, UK and International editions of each issue. Adbusters’s sister organizations include Résistance à l’Aggression Publicitaire[7] and Casseurs de Pub[8] in France, Adbusters Norge in Norway, Adbusters Sverige in Sweden and Culture Jammers in Japan.[9][10]
