Today I was in the centre of the city, making my way between meetings, when I saw H&M’s display windows.
What a discreet oasis of calm in an explosion of tinsel, snowmen, gift sets, advent calendars, giant shouty signs and shop windows trumpeting an awful mishmash of Christmas and Black Friday specials. There were no decorations at all in H&M, inside or out. I think they read the mood and decided to whisper rather than shout.
I love a good sale or discount as much as the next person, but right now there is a cost-of-living crisis, an energy crisis, a war in a a neighbouring country, and the interest rate/policy rate has been increased at least nine times this year, meaning that many people are afraid of losing their homes. Unemployment and bankruptcies are increasing. The world has just come out of a two-year pandemic without recent precedent. The constant buy-buy-buy messages via text/email/newspaper/tv/posters inviting overconsumption seem rather inappropriate.
Sweden does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but for the last month there have been ads trumpeting Black Weeks, pre-Black Week, Black Week, and Black Friday. After Black Friday will be Cyber Monday, Cyber Week, and then pre Christmas sales, Christmas Sales, Twixtmas sales, and New Year’s Sales.
When I moved to Sweden there were basically two sale periods. Just after Midsummer, and between Christmas and New Year. There were real bargains to be had if you did your research, and the sales only lasted two weeks or so. Now there is always a sale, always a discount, always a sad little sale rack with items no one has wanted for the last two years. Some stores produce items especially for the sales. I have also noticed many shops put prices up a few weeks before the sales, and then lower them.
Don’t get me wrong, I do have a list of things I want to get during the December sales:
- a new mascara, hopefully in a Christmas kit with travel sizes of makeup-remover and eyeliner
- a Kiehls advent calendar when it reaches 50% discount and has a gift with purchase because I am travelling soon and love their smaller-sized products
- Body Shop bath and shower Christmas kits at 50% discount or more
My work always gives gift cards for Christmas so I usually use them to buy something during the sales.
What about your country?
The unemployment and bankruptcies are coming from failed businesses though, and that’s exactly what these sales are hoping to avoid the same for themselves and their staff! As well as drivers, supply-side logistics, all the way up the supply and distro chain in fact.
I remember what it’s like to be involved with a small business and be looking to almost ANY event or opportunity to catch people’s imagination and make a sale which keeps bread on the table. The same is true for larger groups, we’ve had several major retail chains fail here in the UK, like Debenhams, TopShop, real icons who were part of our lives.
Please be less angry with businesses, who if they fail or need to cut costs will just be adding to the misery, and look more to where billions are going which never touch a regular person’s wallet or a cash register…
Thank you again for your reply. In these times I like to support small businesses, but as you say, the big ones also provide job opportunities. The high street in the UK is very much changed from when I used to spend a lot of time there. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Your wisdom is a nice antidote to my bitterness.
They used to call it ‘Vendredi Noir’ here in France, but this year, they are just calling it Black Friday instead!!
We have had so much publicity these last two weeks we thought it was last Friday not today!
I’m very much in the ‘Use what you already have’ mood at the moment!
It is compulsory to translate any public message (motto, slogan, catch phrases, ads etc) in a foreign language into French. This year, as well as the years before, Black Friday is systematically being translated though most people know what it means.
I doubt people actually know where “Black Friday” comes from though and only think about it as a period of mass consuming and lower prices.
In Germany, shops are torn between increasing profits and not appearing too greedy, so there’s a bit of Black Friday advertising, but mainly for big shops. Yesterday, I was working on a text about Black Friday with a class and there was the mention of a “buy-nothing-day”, which happens to be on the same day as Black Friday. I think that a few years back, it would have been meaningful to do something like this but since Black Friday has turned into Black Week, buying nothing for one day doesn’t really make much difference.