Discarded | Luray, Virginia, USA | Nov 2008

US retailers went into Black Friday last week hoping that the traditional “biggest shopping day of the year” would turn their year around.

Are they delusional? Are they tone-deaf to people’s needs right now?

The adverts for “Black Friday” shopping deals, while expected, seem tone-deaf. Companies can profit in more ways than pimping consumption. (Twitter)

Attempting to steady the year’s poor financial performance by trying to sell the same product, using the same approach, with the same message, but at lower prices and lower margins, is not the route to success. Turning a blind eye to people’s needs to try to convince them to buy more stuff is not the way forward.

Why should we attempt to return to the consumer spending levels of the past couple years? Did our over-focus on consumption create the foundation for long-term economic or cultural success?

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“Black Friday” is a US phenomenon created by the Thanksgiving holiday and the US retail and media machine. What are the expectations for consumer retail spending through the rest of this year in other countries? (i.e. in other countries where people celebrate Christmas with mass consumer spending)