Last Friday, people across the country went shop-crazy with the Black Friday sales. Despite it being a primarily American and Canadian tradition, this year the UK accounted for around 10% of Black Friday searches online globally. On top of this, around 40% of shoppers were forecast to go into physical stores to grab those deals (Statista Research Department 2021). But is this creating more damage than good?

There are many arguments that this day is a positive thing, particularly with the lead up to Christmas. The sales make it easier and more accessible to get presents for loved ones; this is especially prominent with those who would otherwise struggle to afford the luxuries that Christmas has come to connote. However, it is still challenging for many individuals this time of year, and the consumer culture that Black Friday promotes is a very difficult one for lots to keep up with. Another reason that Black Friday has come to an increased popularity within the UK is the economy booster it provides. We live in a Capitalist country, one that thrives off of our economy – a day that encourages increased buying of products is the perfect push for this. Alongside this economy boost however comes the negatives. The fast fashion industry is one of the main industries that benefits from Black Friday; one that exploits workers and unethical consumption of products. Not only is this awful for those workers, but it also leaves irreparable environmental costs. A prime example of this is the online shop Pretty Little Thing, which for the last few years has taken part in a 99p or 99% off sale. Just looking at those numbers you can see how damaging that can be in more respect than one – the clothes will probably be poor quality, meaning they will be thrown away after a few times of wearing; the extremely cheap prices encourage excessive spending on items that will hardly be worn; the increased number of products being bought means the workers will have even more work with such little rights and protection and also uses an unnecessary amount of natural resources such as basic thing as water. It takes more than 3,900 litres of water just to make an average T-shirt – that could be used as over 1,300 different people’s water for a day.

Overall, the unethical consumption of products that Black Friday promotes is damaging – perhaps not to our Western society, but to those in less developed places who the resources used to create the products could be benefitting, and also to our environment.