Under the credo “Time to make a difference”, Undiemeister® issued a statement in 2020 about the Black Friday sales festival. Black Friday is a phenomenon that has come over from the US, where it is the following day after Thanksgiving. The “scholars” do not really agree on how Black Friday came to be. This varies from a stock market crash on Friday, September 24, 1869, to the start of the Christmas shopping, right after Thanksgiving. That would be the day when the shopkeepers would get their figures into the black.
In the Netherlands Black Friday is nothing more than sales
But we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the Netherlands at all and we don’t start Christmas shopping until after Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas). Black Friday is actually just an excuse from shopkeepers to attract as many customers as possible to their stores that blew over from the US. And as you may understand, it always works great when you offer discounts. Understandable, but Black Friday has become crazier and crazier in the Netherlands year after year. People start at the stores early in the morning, ready to snatch the bargains out of each other’s hands. Every man for himself and God for all of us you could say. Absolutely no feeling of interconnectedness.
Some are on the sidelines
Not everyone can participate in this extravagant shopping party, even if they want to. They are happy when they have a roof over their heads. Every now and then. No means to buy all kinds of extra’s that, let’s face it, no one really needs. In this sense, the “struggle” to get our hands on all kinds of nonsensical items contrasts rather sharply with the struggle for basic needs that others have. Like the need of the homeless…
Noblesse Oblige (Nobility required)
Not that Undiemeister feels aristocratic, but Noblesse Oblige means: if you have it better than someone else, then you have a moral duty to help. And that is what Undiemeister® has done, by giving a free boxer short to the homeless shelter for every order placed. If you help you do what you can. In our case that is providing nice, clean underwear. It would be fantastic if other parties, based on their competence or specialty, would also do something like that. Then together we would change Black Friday from giving discounts to giving support. In our opinion, that offers a much better feeling than finding some cheap junk. So here too: win/win.
