After advent calendars appeared in the shops mid-September, the above store campaign appeared last week. Too soon!
Hallowe’en annoyed me when it became a thing in Sweden about 10 years ago, because it was never a local tradition. The newfound celebration of Hallowe’en seemed to be driven by commercialism and involve most cheap plastic tat. But I have learned to accept that kids really enjoy it, and it is a moment of fun at a gloomy time of year in a world that is falling apart. I like seeing pumpkin pastries and harvest decorations. Much better than no decoration at all during darkening days and pouring rain.
But Black Month/Week/Friday has happened earlier and earlier, and become louder and louder each year. Countries outside the US and Canada do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so Black Friday has been a purely commercial addition to our calendar. Many of the ‘bargains’ are not bargains at all, and the drive to encourage people to over-consume non-necessities in the middle of a financial crisis seems distasteful. Before you could always just put your head down and escape the commercialism. Now you are bombarded with text messages, public transport advertising, push notifications, social media ads and sponsored posts, emails and shop windows. Unless you are a bear entering hibernation, there is no escape.
I understand that retail companies need to survive in these days of rising prices. If companies collapse, people lose their jobs and things become even worse. Wouldn’t it be nicer though if the advertising was toned down and the bargains were fewer, but genuine?
One good thing I have noticed over the past two years is Black Friday scepticism. The media runs more and more articles around this time, warning people of traps. The Swedish Consumer Agency has fined many retailers – some of them with good reputations – for misleading the public and misrepresenting prices. Some of the fines ran into the millions. Two major beauty magazines ran well-researched articles into fake Black Friday ‘bargains’ and the encouragement to over-consume.
I generally do buy some things at this time of year – mostly beauty products. I tend to stock up on my favourite products if they are much cheaper, and also try products that would normally be out of my reach but which I have been wanting to try. If I need good boots or a warm winter jacket, I always buy them deeply discounted at the end of winter.
This year we will be away from mid-December so I will not be buying anything that cannot be delivered by the beginning of January (the postal service struggles at this time of year).
