There seems so be something that Britain is forgetting. It’s something increasingly foisted upon us by advertisers, corporations and the high street. We have forgotten that we are not Americans. We are British people; we queue, we apologise for things that aren’t our fault, and we recoil from human contact in public places like we’ve been touched by The Black Death. So it’s concerning that the phenomenon of Black Friday - a wholly American invention - turns British people, seemingly overnight, into zombies who will gladly mow down a pensioner to get their fix of a slightly reduced Ultra HD 4K R2-D2 Amoled TV. Yesterday these people were probably strolling around ASDA and politely doing the ‘excuse me’ dance with someone in the way of the Tetley Tea shelf.
If, like me, you’d rather stick pins in your eyes than go into battle with some eighteen-year-old over a Topshop coat that even at a reduced price is more than you earn in a week, then you probably still feel steady pangs of anxiety throughout the day. The good little consumerist voice in your head is saying ‘think of the money you could be saving today. You’re missing deals with every minute passing. Tick tock, bitch.’
It really is anxiety-inducing.
And god forbid you check your emails. I opened my inbox to a fucking tidal wave of shouty subject lines; ‘BLACK FRIDAY DEALS’, ‘DON’T MISS OUT, BUY NOW’, ‘THE BEST ON THE HIGH STREET PLEASE BUY FROM US WE HATE TODAY TOO BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO’ metaphorically slapping me in the face.
So what can you do? If you can’t turn off your emails and social media and watch the new Gilmore Girls all day, then you should definitely take part in the anti-Black Friday movement, Buy Nothing Day.
Around since the early 90s, Buy Nothing Day is ‘an international day of protest against consumerism’ where, you guessed it, you buy nothing. You could get a 20% saving on an iPad, or you could get a 100% discount by just… not buying it. Come on, in the Black Friday sales the real winners are always the retailers. The retailers who buy mandala wall hangings from sweatshops for a penny and sell them to us simpletons for £20 (reduced from £25!). I'm looking at you, Urban Outfitters. Your Black Friday purchases will make you feel warm and fuzzy now, but a month down the line when you find out that you spent way more on your mate’s Christmas present than they did on yours, you'll feel all the regret.
So instead of sale shopping, spend your free time today doing such anti-Black Friday activities as taking a stroll in nature, hosting a non-commercial street party, cutting up your credit cards, or walking around a supermarket in a conga line made from empty trolleys and not putting anything in them (no I'm not making these up).
Whatever you do, don’t let Black Friday get you down, and know that as much as you hate being bombarded with adverts, at least you’re not working at Amazon today (so, so sorry if you are).
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.