Is Buy Nothing Day just Do Nothing Day?

Shoppers, activist question effectiveness of anti-shopping holiday

Some activists encourage people to save their dollars on Buy Nothing Day. Cindy Titus

Celebrated the Friday following American Thanksgiving – also known as “Black Friday”, one of the busiest shopping days of the year – Buy Nothing Day has gained international recognition.

More than simply a gesture opposed to anti-consumerism, it is consumption itself that is meant to be slowed. This includes the use of utilities within the home, gasoline and just about anything else required for life on planet Earth.

But is this heavily hyped “social statement” effective or relevant nearly 20 years after its inception?

“It seems like somewhat of an empty gesture,” said 23-year-old avid spender and self-confessed shopaholic Samantha Curtis. “Why would you choose a day to be aware of these things? Why wouldn’t you perform this way everyday, if that was your goal?”

Created by artist and social activist Ted Dave and first “celebrated” in 1992 in Vancouver, Dave explained the initial purpose of Buy Nothing Day in an interview with Robin Laurence over 10 years ago.

“It means to participate by not participating. It is designed to remind the consumer and the retailer of the true power of the buying public.”

There is even a Buy Nothing Day album available at www.teddave.com.

Hard data that show Buy Nothing Day adversely impacts sellers is difficult to find.

Adbusters magazine – Buy Nothing Day’s major promoter – suggests several symbolic and performance-art gestures to celebrate the day. These include a conga line of shoppers who purchase nothing and setting up a credit card cut-up stand at your local mall.

While such shenanigans may appeal to only the most ardent participants, Adbusters stresses that Buy Nothing Day symbolizes that which should be adopted as a lifestyle and not merely for a day. It is questionable how lasting such a change would be in the lives of those participating, however, when several web-based forums advocate stocking up on goods the day before the “holiday.”

This sentiment is not lost on photographer and culture aficionado Robyn Carleton.

“In our capitalist society, what does one day do? A day like Buy Nothing Day can show what not buying things will do, but we should be starting a real revolution. One that will actually see that corporations have less power.”

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)

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