Editing Buy Nothing Day

{{short description|Day of protest against consumerism}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name=Buy Nothing Day
|image=La2-buynothing.jpg
|caption=Buy Nothing Day demonstration in [[San Francisco]], November 2000
|nickname=
|observedby=
|date=Day after [[Thanksgiving (United States)|U.S. Thanksgiving]]
|duration=1 day
|frequency=Annual
|scheduling=
|observances=
|type=Cultural
|significance=Protest [[anti-consumerism|against consumerism]]
|relatedto=[[Black Friday (shopping)|Black Friday]], [[Cyber Monday]], [[Green Monday]], [[Small Business Saturday]], [[Giving Tuesday]], [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]]
|alt=|official_name=|litcolor=|celebrations=|begins=|ends=|weekday=|month=|firsttime={{start date and age|df=yes|September 1992}}|startedby=}}
{{Anti-consumerism|Theories}}

'''Buy Nothing Day''' is a day of protest [[anti-consumerism|against consumerism]]. In North America, the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden, Buy Nothing Day is held the day after U.S. [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]], concurrent with [[Black Friday (shopping)|Black Friday]]; elsewhere, it is held the following day, which is usually the last Saturday in November.<ref name="Guardian 2000">"{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/internetnews/story/0,7369,402170,00.html |title=Internet spreads word as networks shun adverts for Buy Nothing Day |work=The Guardian |first=Duncan |last=Campbell |date=24 November 2000}}</ref><ref name="Adbusters BND">"[http://abillionpeople.org/buy-nothing-day/ Buy Nothing Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203729/http://abillionpeople.org/buy-nothing-day/ |date=November 21, 2018 }}"''Adbusters.org''</ref> 

Created by artist Ted Dave and promoted by magazine and nonprofit ''[[Adbusters]]'', Buy Nothing Day encourages people not to shop for one day. Participants may participate in a variety of anti-consumerist and philanthropic activities, such as donating winter coats or marching through stores. Some activists have also extended Buy Nothing Day to cover the entire [[Christmas and holiday season|Christmas shopping season]]. As of 2001, Buy Nothing Day was observed in over 35 countries. In the late 1990s, ''Adbusters'' created a TV commercial to promote Buy Nothing Day in the US, but most television stations refused to air it. Some commentators, particularly business groups, have criticized the event, claiming that it is economically destructive. 

==History==
The holiday was invented by Canadian artist Ted Dave.<ref>Crook, Barbara. "Can you say bye to buying 1 day a year?" ''[[Vancouver Sun]]''. September 25, 1991</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite web |last1=Sommerlad |first1=Joe |title=International Buy Nothing Day: What is the anti-Black Friday protest and how effective is it? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/black-friday-2018-international-buy-nothing-day-deals-what-protest-a8646196.html |website=The Independent |access-date=7 October 2023 |date=22 November 2018 |archive-date=November 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117192614/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/black-friday-2018-international-buy-nothing-day-deals-what-protest-a8646196.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' journalist Joe Sommerlad traced supporters' philosophy back to the 1899 text ''[[The Theory of the Leisure Class]]'', which argued that consumerism was left over from the feudal era and should be discontinued.<ref name="Independent" /> Soon thereafter, Canadian magazine and nonprofit ''[[Adbusters]]'' began promoting the day as well.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/11/40142 |title=Click Here to Buy Nothing |first=Joanna |last=Glasner |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=November 22, 2000 |access-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-date=September 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922141000/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/11/40142 |url-status=live }}</ref> It then spread to the United States, then internationally.<ref name="Independent" /> It began to be observed in Japan in 1999, and by 2001 was observed in 35 countries around the world.<ref name="Japan">{{cite web |last1=Tegler |first1=Gary |title='Buy Nothing Day' adds weight to buying season |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/11/26/national/buy-nothing-day-adds-weight-to-buying-season/ |website=The Japan Times |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=26 November 2001 |archive-date=December 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210032446/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/11/26/national/buy-nothing-day-adds-weight-to-buying-season/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of overconsumption." In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called "[[Black Friday (shopping)|Black Friday]]", which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2019/09/24/the-10-busiest-shopping-days-at-stores-does-anyone-still-care/|title=The 10 Busiest Shopping Days At Stores: Why They Now Matter More To Stores Than Shoppers|last=Verdon|first=Joan|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-04-07|archive-date=December 24, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241224112225/https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2019/09/24/the-10-busiest-shopping-days-at-stores-does-anyone-still-care/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

==Activities==
===Activism===
[[File:Buy Nothing Day trolley (cropped).jpg|thumb|A Buy Nothing Day sign attached to a [[Walmart]] [[shopping cart]] by an activist|262x262px]]
Beginning in the 1990s, ''Adbusters'' readers began engaging in [[culture jamming]] activities on Buy Nothing Day.<ref name="CityBeat">{{cite web |last1=Trapp |first1=Doug |title=Why Not Buy Nothing? |url=https://www.citybeat.com/news/why-not-buy-nothing--12177212 |website=CityBeat |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=14 November 2002}}</ref> Various gatherings and forms of protest have been used to draw attention to [[overconsumption]]:
* Credit card cutting parties<ref name="WaPo">{{cite news |last1=Oldenburg |first1=Don |title=Buy Nothing Day Gains Purchase |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/11/26/buy-nothing-day-gains-purchase/a5505632-1dd5-4d22-86c1-c54a22edc51c/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=26 November 2002 |archive-date=December 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212032059/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/11/26/buy-nothing-day-gains-purchase/a5505632-1dd5-4d22-86c1-c54a22edc51c/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Salt Lake" />
* Handing out flyers: Participants gather in busy city areas to hand out flyers to inform passerby of the movement and anti[[consumerism]]<ref name="new bullet point">{{cite journal |last1=Vinken |first1=Henk |last2=Diepstraten |first2=Isabelle |title=Buy Nothing Day in Japan: Individualizing life courses and forms of engagement |journal=YOUNG |date=February 2010 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=55–75 |doi=10.1177/110330880901800105 |s2cid=144806853 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/110330880901800105 |access-date=April 30, 2023}}</ref>
* Forming long lines of people pushing empty shopping carts around stores (referred to as "Whirly-Mart" by ''Adbusters'')<ref name="NYT1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Buy Nothing Day 2019 |url=https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/buy-nothing-day-2019 |website=Adbusters |access-date=6 October 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425022553/https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/buy-nothing-day-2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Buy Nothing Coat Exchange: Four states, including Utah, hold winter coat exchange programs as an alternative to Black Friday shopping.<ref name="Salt Lake">{{cite web |last1=Semerad |first1=Tony |title=Utahns embrace Buy Nothing Day by stowing their wallets |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57185663&itype=CMSID |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=27 November 2013}}</ref>
* Walking through streets or malls in zombie makeup<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eordogh |first1=Fruzsina |title=Black Friday Is More Political Than Ever |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/black-friday-is-more-political-than-ever/ |website=Vice |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=29 November 2013}}</ref>

===Commercials===
Beginning in the 1990s, ''Adbusters'' produced a commercial promoting Buy Nothing Day.<ref name="Report Card" /> The ad depicted North Americans as a belching pig, to symbolize their overconsumption, and cited statistics comparing North Americans' consumption to those of people in Mexico, China, and India.<ref name="UPI" /> The ad also refers to "A world that could die because of the way we North Americans live".<ref name="Report Card" /> However, ''Adbusters'' struggled to get the ad on the air, with [[MTV]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], and [[NBC]] refusing to show it.<ref name="Guardian 2000"/><ref name="UPI">{{cite web |title=Opposition to Buy Nothing Day is up |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2001/11/21/Opposition-to-Buy-Nothing-Day-is-up/53791006379870/ |website=United Press International |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=21 November 2001 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112010315/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2001/11/21/Opposition-to-Buy-Nothing-Day-is-up/53791006379870/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYT1">{{cite web |last1=Revkin |first1=Andrew |title=A Fresh Advertising Pitch: Buy Nothing |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/a-fresh-advertising-pitch-buy-nothing/ |website=The New York Times |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=22 November 2007}}</ref> Only CNN, as well as some local stations, agreed to air the ad.<ref name="Guardian 2000" /><ref name="MD" /> In 1997, CBS justified their refusal by citing "the current economic policy in the United States".<ref name="Report Card">{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Rob |title=Ad Report Card: A Pitch for Nothing |url=https://slate.com/business/2001/11/ad-report-card-a-pitch-for-nothing.html |website=Slate |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=19 November 2001}}</ref> [[Kalle Lasn]], the co-founder of ''Adbusters'', questioned why MTV was comfortable airing [[gangsta rap]] and sexualized videos, but would not run the ad.<ref name="NYT1" /> In 2001, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' advertising critic Rob Walker opined that ''Adbusters'' shouldn't "suddenly change their convictions" following the September 11 attacks, but should consider airing a new ad, especially in light of the "world that could die" language.<ref name="Report Card" /> 

==Buy Nothing Christmas==
Buy Nothing Christmas started unofficially in 1968, when Ellie Clark and her family decided to publicly disregard the commercial aspects of the Christmas holiday.<ref name="buy nothing">{{cite web |url=http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/about/index.html |title=About Us |website=Buynothingchristmas.org |access-date=2017-01-03 |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710174456/http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/about/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Contemporarily, a movement was created to extend [[Adbusters]]' Buy Nothing Day into the entire Christmas season.<ref name=EGM>{{citation |page=398 |title=Encyclopedia of Gender in Media |editor=Mary Kosut |author=Susan Alessandri |publisher=SAGE |year=2012 |isbn=9781506338286}}</ref> Buy Nothing Christmas first became official in 2001 when a small group of Canadian [[Mennonite]]s created a website and gave the movement a name.<ref>Priesnitz, Wendy. [http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0612/buynothing.htm "A Buy Nothing Christmas."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727061247/http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0612/buynothing.htm |date=July 27, 2020 }} ''Natural Life Magazine'', November/December 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2008.</ref> Adbusters in 2011 renamed the event Occupy Xmas,<ref>[http://occupyxmas.net/ Occupy Xmas], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231142336/http://www.occupyxmas.net/ |date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref> a reference to the [[Occupy movement]].<ref name="Occupy Xmas1">{{cite web |last1=Leitsinger |first1=Miranda |title=Consumer fasts, mall sit-ins -- anti-Black Friday actions urged |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/consumer-fasts-mall-sit-ins-anti-black-friday-actions-urged-flna1c7100896 |website=NBC News |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=23 November 2011 |archive-date=September 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905224316/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/consumer-fasts-mall-sit-ins-anti-black-friday-actions-urged-flna1c7100896 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Buy Nothing Day was first joined with Adbusters' Buy Nothing Christmas campaign. Shortly after, Lauren Bercovitch, the production manager at Adbusters Media Foundation, publicly embraced the principles of Occupy Xmas, advocating "something as simple as buying locally—going out and putting money into your local economy—or making your Christmas presents".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-12-07|title=An occupied Christmas|url=https://thefulcrum.ca/news/an-occupied-christmas/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=The Fulcrum|language=en-US|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203850/https://thefulcrum.ca/news/an-occupied-christmas/|url-status=live}}</ref> Previously, the central message of Occupy Xmas and Occupy Christmas differed in that Occupy Xmas called for a "Buy Nothing Christmas" and Occupy Christmas called for support of local economy, artists, and craftspeople in holiday shopping. The union of these ideologies calls for a Buy Nothing Day to kick off a season of supporting local economy and family. ''Adbusters'' editor Kalle Lasn claimed in 2006 that the holiday was celebrated in over 65 countries around the world.<ref name="Toronto">{{cite web |last1=Gates |first1=Vanessa |title=Buy-nothing spirit gains holiday foothold |url=https://torontoobserver.ca/2006/12/05/buy-nothing-spirit-gains-holiday-foothold/ |website=Toronto Observer |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=5 December 2006}}</ref>

==Opposition==
In 2001, during the [[aftermath of the September 11 attacks]], Adbusters encountered an increase in opposition to Buy Nothing Day, with some Americans believing that consumerism was critical to rehabilitating the US economy.<ref name="UPI" /> In 2002, the president of the Maryland Retailers' Association opined that supporters of the holiday should "get in the holiday spirit" and claimed that their activities could hurt retail workers financially.<ref name="MD">{{cite web |title=Activists hope 'Buy Nothing Day' gives 'Black Friday' a Black Eye |url=https://thedailyrecord.com/2002/11/27/other-business-news-activists-hope-8216buy-nothing-day-gives-8216black-friday8217-a-black-eye/ |website=The Daily Record Maryland |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=27 November 2002}}</ref> That year, the director of communications for the [[National Association of Manufacturers]] called Buy Nothing Day "a very bad idea" and accused it of being "a protest against modernity".<ref name="ABCNews">{{cite web |title=Group Asks Consumers to Buy Nothing |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=86828&page=1 |website=ABC News |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=27 November 2002}}</ref>

In 2012, Andrew Simms published an opinion piece in ''[[The Guardian]]'' arguing that abstinence-focused movements fail and that the economy was already suffering from too little demand, instead advocating that people buy better-quality goods.<ref name="Simms">{{cite web |last1=Simms |first1=Andrew |title=Buy Nothing Day? There must be a better way to protest |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/nov/21/buy-nothing-day-better-way |website=Guardian |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
English alternative rock band [[Chumbawamba]] recorded a song titled "Buy Nothing Day" for their 2004 studio album ''[[Un (album)|Un]]''.<ref name="AllMusic Un">{{cite web |last1=Loftus |first1=Johnny |title=Chumbawamba - UN |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/un-mw0000560718 |website=AllMusic |publisher=RhythmOne |access-date=5 October 2023}}</ref> ''[[AllMusic]]'' critic Johnny Loftus deemed it an "endorsement" of Adbusters' movement, while fellow ''AllMusic'' critic Chris Nickson deemed it a "musing on greed" on their 2007 live album, ''[[Get On with It]]''.<ref name="AllMusic Un" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nickson |first1=Chris |title=Overview: Get On with It: Live |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/get-on-with-it-live-mw0000753134 |website=AllMusic |publisher=RhythmOne |access-date=6 October 2023 |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220210213/https://www.allmusic.com/album/get-on-with-it-live-mw0000753134 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2019, actress [[Shailene Woodley]] tweeted her support for the holiday.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cain |first1=Áine |title=People are declaring the day after Thanksgiving 'Buy Nothing Day' as part of a backlash against Black Friday |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-buy-nothing-day-backlash-2019-11 |website=Business Insider |access-date=6 October 2023 |date=29 November 2019 |archive-date=November 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124092508/https://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-buy-nothing-day-backlash-2019-11 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em|small=no}}
*[[Anti-consumerism]]
*Advent Conspiracy
*[[Car-Free Days]]
*[[Circular Monday]], a grassroots movement, database and shopping day for circular consumption
*[[Giving Tuesday]]
*''[[Homo consumericus]]''
*''[[The Story of Stuff]]'' (2007 film)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/buy-nothing-day-2019 The Buy Nothing Day] - thematic page (2019) by Adbusters Media Foundation
*[http://www.buynothingday.co.uk BND UK information and support for UK campaigners]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uK0%20jwyh%200 Buy Nothing Day commercial], posted on Adbusters' official YouTube channel
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133719 A 2001 NPR interview] with Kelle Lasn about Buy Nothing Day

{{Thanksgiving|state=collapsed}}
{{Unofficial observances}}

[[Category:1992 establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:Consumer boycotts]]
[[Category:Criticism of the commercialization of Christmas]]
[[Category:Friday observances]]
[[Category:November observances]]
[[Category:Observances based on the date of Thanksgiving (United States)]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1992]]
[[Category:Retailing by time of year]]
[[Category:Unofficial observances]]
[[Category:Waste minimisation]]
[[Category:Annual protests]]