Every November, Mariah Carey ushers in the festive season with her signature whistle notes and popular Christmas songs. Grocery and drug stores, radio stations and Spotify playlists, even TikToks usher in the best time of the year to the sound of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” But before Christmas comes Thanksgiving, and with it comes another Black Friday and, in this age of URLs, Cyber Monday. It’s time of year for shopaholics everywhere, those who indulge in dizzying discounts and pretend not to notice their credit card balances , and find joy in the leniency return policy (for those unwanted items you buy under self-imposed pressure).
With great deals come great value videos, a social media phenomenon first created in the first half of the years by fashion Adjacent YouTubers went viral, now reimagined by TikTok and Instagram creators who buy massive amounts of merchandise in the name of #content. But a decade after the first few videos were posted on YouTube, what started as an innocent genre designed to convey excitement has degenerated into a toxic culture that promotes excessive shopping and overspending. While I can’t be more holy than you when it comes to enjoying the bizarre, appealing quality of a product “try on” or “unboxing” clip, I suggest that this Black Friday, we reject video dragging and mindless shopping, and choose (I Clearly I sound like all the mothers we have here) wise, thoughtful spending.
Somehow we’ve gone from the flattering “Sephora Haul 🙂 Trying on my new favorite product” clip to the questionable “HUGE [here Insert fast fashion brand] TRY ON HAUL / AD” post (“ad” for “ad” of course).
While I could spend most of my word count and your screen time on the damaging effects of haulage (all this useless packaging of items you buy and return and shipping?), I’d rather spend our time arguing together in favor of buying less and better . After all, why is there a lot of shipping when we should be getting smarter about our shopping?
It’s not about not shopping on Black Friday (what’s the fun in that?), it’s about shopping only those Things you need – like essentials , like can’t imagine life without . I find that the older I get, the less I shop. Maybe it’s because my style is finally falling into a manageable range, or because I’ve become more precious to the things I put in my home and on me, but it’s really nice to embrace “we have food in the house” when we wish Our moms used to repeat the energy when they bought us McDonald’s on the drive home. Buying less doesn’t mean don’t treat yourself, it just means treating yourself with something you really want, not something the internet makes you have to have. Buying better doesn’t mean buying only luxury goods, or spending money you don’t have on higher quality or more sustainable goods, it’s a matter of doing more Good mindset choice, no matter the price, buy something you will wear well, something you will keep and cherish.
So maybe this Black Friday, swipe away from that alluring trailer video and try shopping for something you know you want. My suggestion is that if you’re less excited about buying it and more concerned about “but what if I regret it” then it’s probably not worth it. Not that Carrie Bradshaw is all on you, but I’ve learned that shopping is a bit like dating; if you don’t feel it in the first place, you probably won’t be into it later. (No, you can’t get around this with “I’ll return it,” you and I both know you’re not going to the post office with that package.)
2010
