I promise you: this newsletter has nothing to do with the deals that have been flooding your inbox for the past two weeks.

So… let's see what's in store for this Black Friday unlike any other.

Happy reading!

Once upon a time,

There was a company that forever changed the history of promo codes and sustainable advertising campaigns.

Patagonia 2011, New York Times. A radical stance—not because it discouraged consumption, but because it dared to address the elephant in the room: producing and selling at an environmental cost and buying less is the most sustainable choice.

In my opinion, this campaign remains unsurpassed to this day. It took courage at the time to say out loud what many reasonable people were thinking but not saying. Remember, it was 2011; Green Friday wasn't yet widely known, nor was the hashtag #underconsumptioncore.

Since then, each Black Friday has acted as a cultural laboratory. Some brands chase after the most aggressive discounts.

Others—more daring, more avant-garde—

completely reinvent the meaning of this day by playing with the codes of consumerism.

Signs of change

Some campaigns seen this year that are changing the norm:

🌿Dille & Kamille is offering free plants in its stores this Friday instead of the usual discounts. Last year, the company closed its doors to allow employees time to clean the streets.

👟Veja is holding Repair Friday instead of Black Friday in its stores for the third year running. Between 6 and 7 pm, customers can drop off a pair of shoes at their partner shoe repair shops.

🍪Kitchen Warehouse is offering Bake Friday using its heat-sensitive ink baking sheet; once baked at 100°C, discount codes appear—it's creative.

🫖Woolah Tea: While the world is having sales, an entrepreneur in Assam is doing the exact opposite. He's voluntarily raising the prices of his teas. An almost militant gesture to denounce the buying frenzy, waste, and normalization of disposable products.
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🏀 Decathlon Canada is encouraging people to prioritize sports over shopping and is asking them to invite the campaign email address: make.timeforsports@decathlon.com. A contest offers the chance to win free equipment related to the chosen sport.

💭 Challenge: Play « 100 truths »

An exercise inspired by Jane McGonigal’s book Imaginable - which I highly recommend.

The concept is simple: List the truths about something. Let’s take Black Friday as an example:

• “Black Friday is about discounts.”
• “Prices go down on Black Friday.”
• “Black Friday is a Friday.”

Now… reverse them:

• “Black Friday is a day without discounts.”
• “Prices go up on Black Friday.”
• “What if buying less became the new normal?”

Enter these new reversed truths into a search engine in the “news” tab to see slightly different signals of change magically appear. ✨✨

En rattrapage

🎙I was on the mic for Ça va mieux qu'on pense (It's Better Than We Think) to talk about all my passions combined: Foresight, trends, and sustainable consumption. (French only)

📹 Also on the air for the news with Patrice Roy to demystify SHEIN's opening at BHV-Marais in Paris—what's going on? (French only)

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See you soon,