The famous Black Friday is coming next November 25th. If you know us, you'll know that we have never made Black Friday the same way than everybody…
We've always left the decision in your hands: if you needed it the discount, you could use it. If you didn't need it, you had the option to buy at normal price and use our famous IDONTNEEDADISCOUNT with 0% discount. To thank you for that 0% we shipped a little detail to you.
Honestly, as the sustainable brand we are, we've always joined the ecoresistance of small business and vilification of mass consumption and Black Friday, but we've always understood that a higher discount is an opportunity or a need for many people.
During the last time, we've thought a lot about this fact and our curiosity has led us to do some research and to make the decision of making our Black Friday this year…
This was something we read and shocked us:
“Low-income people, along with mothers and people of color, are the groups most likely to take part in Black Friday sales. they bear the brunt of this criticism, a combination of classism, racism, and sexism.”, outlined Nadra Nittle in The classist vilification of the Black Friday shopper (Vox → The American media)
That's tough, right?
This journalist is based on one of the main researches by some Roger, who says that:
“Black Friday might be people’s only chance to have access to certain things, to buy what they need”.
And what's more, the researches also says that Black Friday is an opportunity for a thoughtful, compared and analyzed purchase for those people who don't have the privilege of missing it and avoiding the mass.
Where have all these led us?
Maybe we're wrong when we wonder about the morals of these buyers (it's just humiliation class, becase maybe those people need to wait until Black Friday to buy those things they can't afford at a different time).
Maybe we're also wrong when we wonder about small brands and projects that join Black Friday because of survival or needs issues, realizing that it's when we find the greatest purchase intention of the year (quite different from the consensual cheating we're submitted because of big companies tricks, but that's a different story...)
Maybe we're loosing the focus and we should be more critical of the system and start a different debate.
In our view, we're talking about a structural problem. And as Rogers says:
Why don’t we look at the inequitable distribution of wealth in our society?
Is it an issue of Black Friday?, What would happen if we wouldn't have this time of the year to offer this discount?, Wouldn't we emphasizing this problem?, Wouldn't we depriving a majority of having access to their needs?
Reading and reading points of view about all of these (of course, we respect all of them and we think that we always have to respect people who buy or not in this date or brands that join it or not), I remembered my childhood.
For instance, my mother educated me on comparing prices (and she still does it).We were 4 sisters at home and we grew up understanding that the choice was clear if we could wait until sales. And just in case it was possible, of course.
We had the privilege of never missing a meal at home, but we didn't have the privilege of having access to the best brands (we didn't talk about sustainability at that time, although consumption was much more sustainable than now).
And I wonder: Is it bad to buy with discounts?
It's something we talk about sometimes in the workshop: even we can't afford our own bags. And these moments like Black Friday are a chance to have access to sustainable fashion or buying what you need.
And why not to say, we can also treat ourselves and it doesn't mean we're unconscious buyers, right?
Honestly, I'm kind of worried about this polarization.
In addition, so many people have reached us out to tell us that they wanted to buy a bag but they couldn't afford it... and that hurts!
It's easy for us: sacrificing our profit for 24h because of the benefit of this majority, just once a year, it doesn't seem that crazy.
What's more: we think it's a win - win situation.
Buying in Black Friday doesn't have to mean an irresponsible or impulsive purchase behavior. You're the only one responsible of buying consciously.
We think that the responsibility and conscious behavior should come from those who enjoys the privilege of choosing whether to buy with or with a discount. The same way that you have or you don't have the privilege of buying sustainable fashion.
If you want, you can take a look at our BLACK FRIDAY MANIFESTO
And if you don't want to miss everything we've prepared this year and have access before no one else, join here:
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