The “Block Friday” movement was born to end Black Friday with the slogan: “We will not kill the planet, betray our children to get 30% off”.
Black Friday is the American post-Thanksgiving shopping day. Over the past 20 years, major retailers have run many promotions and discounts on this day, and now it is no longer just an American shopping day. According to CNBC, in 2017 alone, Britons spent about $ 10.3 billion, Germans spent $ 7.6 billion and the French spent $ 6.2 billion on shopping needs on Black Friday. .
However, in the past few years, people in many countries are tending to turn away and even boycott Black Friday for many different reasons. Last week, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire asked e-commerce sites and large supermarkets to postpone the Black Friday sale, which was supposed to take place from November 27-29 so that retail stores can The tradition that is having to close because the blockade order has a chance to catch up.
Since 2019, some lawmakers in France have wanted to ban Black Friday altogether. Near Paris, protesters gathered from shopping malls to Amazon headquarters to protest against overproduction that they say is killing the planet and life. The “Block Friday” movement was born to end “Black Friday” with the slogans: “Forests burn, oceans are polluted, creatures are dying but we still want to consume and produce?” .
In Germany, hundreds of Amazon workers went on strike on Black Friday last year. In the UK, consumer rights groups called for a boycott of Black Friday, saying it was just a “scam” by big businesses to hurt small businesses.
Globalization has brought American consumer tastes to shoppers around the world, from Halloween candy to breakfast cereals and peanut butter. These even replace local traditions in many European countries. For French, British and Italian activists, Black Friday is the epitome of this alternative trend. Therefore, they believe that Black Friday – an event of American origin – should be restricted. Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion declared Black Friday “the symbol of capitalism that does the most harm” and warned that consumerism will destroy everything if we don’t act first.
Not only in Europe, Black Friday is no longer welcomed as warmly as before in some Asian countries such as Iran, Bangladesh… In Bangladesh, after the fire at the Tazreen factory on the outskirts of Dhaka in 2012, caused 112 garment workers died, the annual Black Friday is no longer a shopping festival but has become a day of remembrance for the unfortunate victims and protests against overproduction.
Black Friday is not well received in some countries because of cultural and historical factors. In Egypt, Friday is a holy day of worship for Muslims. In response to public pressure calling for the cancellation of the event, many retailers decided to rename Black Friday to White Friday or Yellow Friday . In Myanmar, Black Friday is often more reminiscent of a 2003 massacre than a major shopping event.