Day 4 - 328 -- Marketing Power

My inbox was filled with advertisements for Black Friday when I first opened it and it continued to fill throughout the day. Many of these e-mails were from companies I have done online business with in the past little while. But I did get several from some of them, though each was slightly different than the last. It seemed that some notices included online as well as in store shopping 'deals.' The morning news show stated that last year was the first time that Black Friday total sales were greater than sales figures for Boxing Day in Canada. It seems that the cultural entity of Black Friday has been appropriated by other nations -- social media showed me adverts for Black Friday sales in the UK, too.

The crass commercialism of all holidays bothers me. How much stuff do we all need? How can companies sell such huge amounts at extremely reduced price points and not have financial problems? Is it that the regular prices are somewhat inflated to begin with? Shopping is also spoken of as a sport or leisure activity. This is truly the sign of affluence -- or more likely debt load. We don't wake up one day and say I need product X of our own volition. The idea has been planted by savvy marketers, some of whom have been working on establishing brand loyalty since shoppers were very young children. It could appear to outsiders that priorities have gotten lost in the rush to buy the latest version of some device or other. Standing in line for hours or days seems like a major personal cost just to get the next great thing. Have we sunk to such a disposable society that replacing items even when not worn out or broken, has become expected? \

This weekend generally has a much smaller focus on shopping in local stores. Monday is Cyber Monday -- a time to find everything that wasn't in the stores on Friday but to do this with online shopping -- which all economic forecasters note is the way things are headed, so Monday may soon overshadow the Friday shopping in this 4 day spending spree. Tuesday tries to bring some sanity back to the spending -- Giving Tuesday. I fear that most of the budget will have disappeared by that day, so sometimes feel less optimistic about the altruism of the day -- particularly after the binge of self indulgence that preceded it. Perhaps, though, charitable organizations are hoping people feel a bit guilty and will try to assuage that with a donation. I do wish the sharing the wealth concept would be first in line, but then I have that cockeyed optimist view of where I want the world to go.

A song ran through my head as I pondered the  incessant reminders to spend my money. It is from the early career of a Canadian group. I hear the lyrics in a somewhat sarcastic tone -- yet pointing out the absurdities of some of the actions. Enjoy!

Shopping -- The Barenaked Ladies