J. D. Stembal Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 What does holiday commerce have to do with justice and police brutality? It's anyone's guess, but the #BlackoutBlackFriday movement is trending up and going viral. "Hyper-capitalism" is being targeted as a scapegoat in the wake of the Ferguson decision. How very ironic that the real victims are the small business owners of Ferguson, who had their stores looted and torched... again. http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/11/25/notonedime-black-friday-boycotts-planned-to-protest-ferguson-decision/ This has to be the most misguided attempt at directing economic sanctions ever. Some have suggested on Twitter to shop only at black owned stores, which is less misguided, but also stinks of classism and racism.
Ken Cotton Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 On the plus side, slightly shorter lines. LOL. Not really. 99% of these hipsters are gonna cave after 10 minutes of loitering around and try to make the sales. 2 1
J. D. Stembal Posted November 26, 2014 Author Posted November 26, 2014 On the plus side, slightly shorter lines. LOL. Not really. 99% of these hipsters are gonna cave after 10 minutes of loitering around and try to make the sales. I haven't bothered to go to a Black Friday sale in almost a decade. I made the mistake of waking up at 4:00 in the morning to go to one once. They are not worth it most of the time. You have to camp out the night before to get your hands on the "doorbuster" deals, and you risk getting trampled by other people. Everyone with an IQ over 100 does their shopping on Cyber Monday, Christmas Eve, or the weeks after Christmas. Those times are when you will get the best deals around the holidays.
shirgall Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 Non-sequitur for the win! Might as well change your Twitter icon and Facebook background for a trifecta of impotent rage.
Ken Cotton Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 Indeed. That, or they just buy throughout the year at a reasonable rate using sensible saving and buying strategies. I guess for some people though, it's kind of like a sport or tradition and they're there just as much for the frenzy of the sale as the sale itself.
Guest nickxenol Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 I don't think people should stop shopping on Black Friday because of police brutality. I really am not a big fan of this video. However, that is not the point. People shouldn't shop on Black Friday because of police brutality but rather because of the insane things that happen on Black Friday (i.e. in 2010 a woman pepper sprayed 8 people over an Xbox 360 [3 of them were kids] or every year when an employee gets trampled to death for opening the door). I would think that no one supports this leading me to not support Black Friday. It's also one of the reasons why I celebrate Festivus.
Leevan Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 These people who think they can bring about better lives for themselves by sitting/laying in the street, wandering around in the middle of the night, or refusing to shop for one day will never improve their circumstances. Being a nuissance won't get you more. You have to work for more. You don't deserve respect. You earn respect.
nathanm Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 Ladies and gentlemen I'm sorry to open this meeting on a sour note, but as you know the Black Friday sales figures for the ACME chain of retail stores the fell well short of what we had expected for nearly 15 years of the company's history. We had every reason to believe it would have been a booming day for us, but what we hadn't anticipated was the highly popular viral video which spread throughout social media. You all know the one of which I speak. As a result people everywhere were staying away from ACME in record numbers.We have reason to believe this trend will continue and many are talking about boycotting ACME stores entirely. If sales are as negatively impacted by this in the next fiscal year we may be facing a hard decision. I know nobody wants to think about it, but if we are going to take that big of a hit we will have no choice but to close down the Abusive Cop Division of ACME Inc. indefinitely. I'm sorry to all the abusive officers that this is even in the cards. We have counted on your service at ACME for many years, ensuring that no deserving target is ever spared from a top quality can of Police Whoop Ass. But this division is a costly one to maintain, requiring numerous medical bills and legal fees. The huge yearly influx of cash on Black Friday helps us to maintain this division. If that trend does not continue we will regrettably have to close this part of the company. If it does come to that we thank you for the countless beatings you've given on behalf of ACME, and we hope that you will find gainful employment wherever some rotten punk needs a good beatdown. We know that the next mouthy 80 year old woman in a wheelchair you encounter will receive the same kind of expert beating that only an ACME police veteran can provide. Thank you.
shirgall Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 I'm all for voting with the dollar, but Levis has not gone under because I dislike their funding of gun control organizations despite not buying from them for twenty years. Please forgive my cynicism of boycotts.
Ken Cotton Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 Boycotts are an option, but only insofar as you have a cohesive culture. If you have 10 people, and 5 of them agree with gun control and 5 of them don't, a boycott won't work. You don't have a cohesive culture where the 10 people or even a strong majority will dictate the business. You just have 5 vs 5. The business can go either way, and then it will just boost its market. Boycotts are never going to have an effect in a culture where a strong enough buyer base will continue buying because there is no reasonable gains to be had.
shirgall Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 Boycotts are an option, but only insofar as you have a cohesive culture. If you have 10 people, and 5 of them agree with gun control and 5 of them don't, a boycott won't work. You don't have a cohesive culture where the 10 people or even a strong majority will dictate the business. You just have 5 vs 5. The business can go either way, and then it will just boost its market. Boycotts are never going to have an effect in a culture where a strong enough buyer base will continue buying because there is no reasonable gains to be had. I once believed that businesses would make a rational decision that selling to 10 by not taking a position was better than selling to 5 because they did take a position. What I failed to realize is that once a business takes a position, they are pretty much stuck because they will lose the other faction if they change to pick up the excluded one.
Ken Cotton Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 I once believed that businesses would make a rational decision that selling to 10 by not taking a position was better than selling to 5 because they did take a position. What I failed to realize is that once a business takes a position, they are pretty much stuck because they will lose the other faction if they change to pick up the excluded one. Also, once you have enemy factions within a culture reason is a lot less important. A business that chooses to take no stance suffers from the typical "in the middle" strategic position of being smashed by both sides or torn apart. A business with no position on an issue is just like North America during the colonial period of history - pretty much untapped resources waiting to be taken advantage of. The business that takes no stance on gun control in favor or against is more likely to lose all 10 ( or even just a majority ) and so going for one group of 5 is a safer choice.
cab21 Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 is there some list of jean companies views on gun control out there or something, if companies must choose one or loose market share?
shirgall Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 is there some list of jean companies views on gun control out there or something, if companies must choose one or loose market share? Getting less relevant to the original discussion, but yeah, there are lists... and Levi Strauss has been on it since the 90s. Time/Warner too.
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