‘Black Friday? Rubbish’: brand sends different message this sales period
The interest in Black Friday resurged this year as Australian consumers were expected to spend $6.2 billion over the four-day weekend, up $200 million on 2021, according to Roy Morgan. As lucrative as the opportunity was, some brands have decided to sit this one out, and made a point of doing so.
The idea of using a marketing campaign to address hyper-consumerism may sound paradoxical, but brands have made it work before: a stellar example being Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign launched in 2011 for Black Friday, encouraging people to think twice before making a purchase.
With multiple societal issues including the cost of living concerns and environmental footprints around mega sales events like Black Friday this year, a handful of Australian brands have decided to redirect their ad budget and potential sales revenue to convey a more sobering message.
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Australian cleaning and body care product company, Zero Co, launched ‘Black Friday? Rubbish’ campaign ahead of the sales period. The company said the only promotional item will be a bundle of rubbish for $20, $50 or $100. For every $20 purchase, the company pulled 300 water bottles worth of rubbish out of the natural environment.
Mike Smith, the founder of Zero Co, told Mumbrella the campaign has raised about $50,000 over the four-day period.
While the company has already been around for two years, this is the first time it took a public stance against Black Friday, which Smith thinks is not only a planetary issue, but also a business problem.
Mike Smith
“I’ve talked to heaps and heaps businesses, and they have this crazy, massive Black Friday hangover, where they just don’t do any revenue for the next month, because they had exhausted all their customers,” he said. “Everyone’s bought all the stuff they can apply for the next four weeks, or six weeks or eight weeks or something at a discount.”
“Black Friday is a terrible thing for profitability for any business. It’s basically flogging a whole bunch of stuff at a crazy discount. And so people say ‘our revenue went up 300%, but my profitability went down 299%’. So just from a pure business perspective, it doesn’t make much sense.”
And then there is the environmental reason. According to the National Waste Report 2020, Australia’s waste has increased to 74 million tonnes yearly, and more than 40% of all waste is sent straight to landfills.
When asked about the best way for sustainable brands to approach Black Friday, Smith said: “Look, I get it, I get that people want to sell stuff. If you’re running a business, you’re trying to get people to buy your product, so you can feed your family.”
“I have a responsibility to my shareholders to try and generate income, but I have a much greater responsibility to future generations to make sure this planet is liveable for them. And so, for me, I just made the decision, we’re going to not participate, and we’re going to make a statement.”
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Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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