Buy Nothing Boxing Day
Today is Boxing Day in Canada (also in Australia, New Zealand and Britain). While its roots date back to the tradition of wealthier people giving gifts to the lower classes the day after Christmas (having just exchanged gifts among their “equals” the day before), today it’s pretty much considered a shopping holiday.
With prices slashed, crowds in a frenzy and general consumer craziness around every corner, this is essentially Canada’s Black Friday. True, there aren’t any (or at least that many) 5am openings and things haven’t gotten as violent as they do south of the border every November. It is also an actual day off work for many and a day where the stores are closed in parts of the country such as Atlantic Canada and northern Ontario (don’t worry, the madness starts on the 27th there). That doesn’t change the fact that the day after Christmas in Canada fills the role that the day after Thanksgiving does in the US.
Since Black Friday inspired Adbusters to create Buy Nothing Day which is now celebrated by activists around the world including us here in Montreal, could Boxing Day inspire a similar such celebration of resistance to consumer culture? There are many reasons why it could be.
For starters, many people, including activists and culture-jammers, are off work, so there are plenty of players. Many people are out shopping, too, so there are plenty of audiences to receive an anti-consumption message. In countries where Black Friday isn’t that big of a day for consumer madness, Boxing Day is. Also, the name alone conjures up many images that could easily be played on theatrically.
At any rate, this idea could serve as interesting food for thought in our post-holiday climate and maybe it could inspire some more action next year.
