Consumers see how the price of many products rises a few days before “Black Friday” and they lower it that day, making them believe that it is a discount.
A “Green Friday” instead of “Black Friday”, denouncing false discounts, boycotting Amazon … are some of the proposals of the groups that denounce the uncontrolled consumerism of the end-of-year parties.
In both North America and Europe, this Friday promotions and discounts will flood stores and websites on a day that marks the start of Christmas shopping.
Adobe analysts expect global internet spending figures of $ 910 billion from early November to late December, an 11% increase from 2020 (despite inflation and supply chain disruptions). ).
Movement against Amazon
Associations and groups of Internet users raise their voices against the excess and consumer frenzy of “Black Friday”.
“It’s ridiculous that this day is so highly profitable for employers when workers are paid the same,” can be read in an “anti-work” (r / antiwork) forum on the Reddit platform, which has more than a million members.
This group, which calls itself the “lazy”, has seen the number of subscribers increase in the autumn. A growth that coincides with the movement known as the “Great Resignation”, the 4.4 million Americans who left their jobs in September.
Messages abound in favor of the “Black Friday Blackout” campaign, which encourages American consumers not to work and, above all, not to buy anything on Friday.
Amazon, which launched its promotional campaign on Thursday, is the target of most attacks, generating much of its profits at this time of year.
Make Amazon Pay, an international coalition of about 40 organizations, including Greenpeace and Oxfam, accuses Jeff Bezos’s group of privileging benefits over conditions and well-being of employees. So they support workers who demonstrate or go on strike on Friday.
In the United Kingdom, the federation that represents independent retailers (Bira), estimates that 85% of small businesses will boycott “Black Friday”, among other reasons, against abuses due to the dominant position of the retail giant online, accentuated during the pandemic.
“Although we admire Amazon for certain things, the pandemic exposed the inequalities between independent businesses and those that resell online,” says Andrew Goodacre, president of Bira.
Fraud in merchandise
Both the Seattle group founded by Jeff Bezos and department stores are under fire for business practices seen as fraudulent.
On the internet, many consumers see how the price of numerous products rises a few days before “Black Friday” and they lower it that day, making them believe that it is a discount.
Companies “can make a product more attractive by saying that it will only cost $ 499 that day, instead of $ 1,299, when it was literally worth $ 499 three weeks ago,” explains a member of the Reddit anti-work forum.
The British association for the defense of consumers Which? calculated that 99.5% of the products discounted by 6 resale companies (Amazon, AO, Argos, Currys, John Lewis and Richer Sounds) during the last “Black Friday” were the same price, or even cheaper, in other times of the year.
Environmental impact
Another reason for criticizing “Black Friday” is its environmental impact, especially due to the increase in greenhouse emissions caused by excessive consumption.
The “Make Friday Green Again” network, of the clothing company FAGUO, brings together 1,200 French brands to promote “more thoughtful” consumption, including recycling, repairing items or buying second-hand products.
Other brands take individual actions, such as the French clothing manufacturer Aigle, which will replace its online store with a second-hand clothing store for 24 hours on Friday, and will close several stores.
Since 2015, the US sporting goods group REI has organized the operation #optoutside (go for a walk) during “Black Friday”, which consists of closing its stores and encouraging its workers to spend time with family or friends.
The Swedish chain IKEA proposes to subscribers to its family program during the month of November, in some thirty stores in the United States, to exchange their used furniture for consumer loans. (I)
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