Every year, before Black Friday, the discussion blooms: How good is it to encourage purchases in a world where consumption is one of the big environmental culprits? People seem to fall into two camps: Those who boycott and those who celebrate. As always online these days, feelings are strong and words are harsh. The nuances are absent.
Companies (of course) want to sell and consumers want to bargain. A winning concept from that aspect but is it that simple?
Of course, people today buy (much!) more than they need. Numbers are superfluous - we know anyway. At the same time, it probably depends a little on which direction we look. I know many people who have been able to afford (for example) winter boots or overalls for the children precisely because of Black Friday. Those who looked for used but did not find - those 50% have then been decisive in being able to give the children clothes for the winter at all. Not to mention Christmas presents. When the money is barely enough from month to month for a roof over your head and food on the table - to possibly be able to buy at least some Christmas present for the children due to greatly reduced prices is a feeling you probably cannot fully understand unless you have been where.
That group is large, but of course not visible. Those who are most visible are those who are privileged enough to have the opportunity to boycott. Those who can pay full price for everything, all the time. The ones who give tips on "cutting back on the daily latte" to save money. (How many lattes do we think the group who may not be able to afford winter clothes buy?) Those who, now that food prices have risen, find it a bit exciting to shop at the cheaper food chain every now and then - not those who could barely afford to buy food at the cheaper food chain before the price increases.
There are of course other groups that are boycotting too! Those who opt out of consumption completely (or as much as possible), for example. But those who are heard the most are probably those who have a choice. And ironically, at the same time, those with purchasing power enough to consume more than the vast majority, on the other days of the year..
I think: No, we shouldn't incite a lot of unnecessary purchases. Neither around days like Black Friday or otherwise. But perhaps we can stop for a moment and think that for many, sales purchases are not overconsumption - but what makes them actually able to at all.
What we sell is not essential to life. You survive without our product. But we think it is very important. In our discussions about how we should approach Black Friday, we have come to the conclusion that it means a lot to us if more people have the opportunity to take part in the products. However, we are a company and in order to be able to do what we do and reach as many people as possible, we need to charge. So we have come up with an offer that we can stand for. We think that with this offer you can, for example, join together and order at a cheaper price per person.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
