Stupid Activist Watch: Another Thankful 'Buy-Nothing-Day' Flop

Another Christmas-shopping season, another call from the Adbusters Media Foundation to “Buy Nothing” that has been thankfully, utterly ignored.

Reportedly launched 18 years ago, Buy Nothing Day is an annual attack on capitalism—held on Black Friday—by anti-consumerists who oppose the consumption that takes place the day after Thanksgiving. Let’s face it, they oppose consumption, period.

This year, Adbusters called on Buy-Nothing activists to take their protests up a notch.

“We want you to not only stop buying for 24 hours, but to shut off your lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off of your computer for the day,” said copy on Adbusters.org.

Ah yes, let’s sit around in the dark and sing Kum Ba Yah.

Candles, you say? Sorry, no illumination on Buy Nothing Day this year except for what comes from the moon. All else would be evil consumption on a day we’re supposed to make a point.

Can these idiots possibly imagine what would happen if their efforts were even marginally successful? Oh yeah. That’s right. They’re idiots, so they can’t possibly imagine the potential ramifications of what they ask.

Let’s take a wild leap and assume the people who push this harebrained scheme lean politically left. Aren’t those on the left supposed to be for the little guy?

Who do Adbusters’ activists think would be most hurt by a successful Buy Nothing Day? Management? No way.

Buy Nothing Day is a—thankfully dud—bullet aimed right at the pocketbooks of those who can least afford it.

That single-mom waitress working her tail off in the diner down the street? There go her tips for the day.

Likewise, the hourly grease monkey at Jiffy Lube barely supporting a young wife and child has just lost a day’s pay.

Fortunately, as has been the case for 18 years, North America’s Christmas shoppers have once again greeted Adbusters’ call for boycott with one big collective yawn.

According to National Retail Federation’s Black Friday shopping survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 195 million consumers visited stores and Web sites over Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year. However, the average spending per person over the weekend dropped to $343.31 from $372.57 a year ago.

Still, total spending reached an estimated $41.2 billion, according to the NRF.

The pros and cons of American consumerism are certainly worthy of debate. But to attempt to engineer an event that would hurt our workforce’s lowest wage earners is unconscionable.