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Traditionally, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been the busiest shopping day of the year, when people “shop ’til they drop” at the malls. Yet it is also a day for thousands of people worldwide to participate in a global event and to stand together against the culture of overconsumption.
In 1992, former advertising executive Kalle Lasn decided to attack “Christmastime commercialism” one day at a time by starting a “Buy Nothing Day” at the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
The campaign’s slogan was and is simple: Try simple living for a day — spend time with family and friends rather than spend money on them.
In a continuing attempt to try and engage people in a debate on the issues of consumerism and materialism and to educate them about the consequences of overconsumption, the Adbusters Media Foundation, a Canadian non-profit group, organizes Buy Nothing Day.
Since the launch of the grassroots protest against the holiday shopping frenzy, Buy Nothing Day campaigns have caught worldwide attention and support and are now being organized by several anti-consumer groups, environmentalists, globalization protesters around the world, encouraging people to “participate by not participating” on the busiest shopping day of the year.
The main activity is to actually buy nothing. But according to the Adbusters Web site there is no right way to celebrate Buy Nothing Day.
“The idea is to do something to spark up debate, not shut it down,” a statement on the Web site reads. “The shining hope for a revolution in human consciousness lies in the actions of everyday people. And so in the most profound sense, nothing has changed at all,”
A resistance experiment called “Whirl-Mart Ritual Resistance” has become another popular way of participating in the campaign.
Beginning in 2001, the ritual activity has been performed in a number of places across the country. In this campaign, a group of people gathers and silently pushes empty carts through the aisles of superstores such as Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer.
In Canada, some campaigners have been known to dress as a “blind consumer sheep.” As they walk through stores ranting and raving about corporate culture, the campaigners pretend to be blinded by “Mr. and Ms. Corporate.”
In England, participants set up tables in public settings where people can come and cut up their credit cards.
Former ASUO Environmental Coordinator Vivian Vassall said America could take a giant leap forward in improving the quality of life on Earth even if it alone celebrates Buy Nothing Day.
“The average North American consumes five times more than a person in Mexico, 10 times more than a person in China, and 30 times more than a person in India,” she said. “This has got to change.”
Alon Raab, a University Judaic studies instructor, said he has participated in anti-consumerism events for many years.
“During the first one held in Portland, I danced, marched, sang and protested as we wove our way through the streets of downtown among the people who were moving from one store to another with full shopping bags,” he said.
Raab said Buy Nothing Day is an important step toward a world that is based not on money but on friendship.
“We are human beings and not consumers,” he said.
For more information visit www.adbusters.org.
Noriko Miyazaki is a freelance reporter for the Emerald.
