Black Friday
Buy Nothing Day
At Gnosis, we believe in CONSCIOUS COMMERCE.
We stand for integrity, transparency, non-manipulative sales tactics, and for thoughtful, educated purchasing.
Black Friday is the opposite. Just as we stand against Charm Pricing ($5, not $4.99! see blog here), we stand against the madness of Black Friday. Criticizing Black Friday shoppers outright might seem elitist or out of touch, especially in today’s economy. Instead, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the bigger picture.
YES! We believe in good deals for holiday gifts!
We will be offering them for your holiday shopping as we would love to partner with you in the season of gifting, and want to offer you the very best pricing we possibly can! A little preview of this: our first release Winter Creations will be 10% off over X amount, 15% off over Y amount, and 20% off (!!) over Z!
But we will NOT be pushing you to order “for Black Friday.”
We will be sending out a respectful number of meaningful, thoughtful, love-filled emails about our 100% freshly handmade creations over the next few weeks, so please do sign up (and then continue reading!)
We agree with the CEO of Mountain Rose Herbs.
“Buy Nothing Day is our act of pushback.”
Here are a few things we can do the day after Thanksgiving:
Shop from small businesses! Support brands that mindfully impact the planet and its inhabitants.
Participate in Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday helps promote charitable acts of giving and to foster a society that is “more gracious” and inspires people to work together and help each other.
Participate in BUY NOTHING DAY! We began promoting this in 2010 as “White Friday.” Have you spent a day purposefully spending nothing when the rest of America is being pushed so hard to buy? We do hope - whether this year or in the future - that you experiment with purchasing NOTHING on Black Friday. It’s innnteresting.
At Gnosis Chocolate, we strive to take a stand—albeit in our own small way—against the consumerism-driven frenzy that overshadows this season. Yes, we’re idealistic, but with a name like “Gnosis,” we feel an inherent responsibility to adhere to a higher ethical standard.
Criticizing Black Friday shoppers outright might seem elitist or out of touch, especially in today’s economy. Instead, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the bigger picture.
In the food industry, economies of scale aren’t just about cheaper ingredients or packaging—they’re also about labor.
What methods, machines, or wages enable companies to offer such drastic discounts?
How far up did they mark the price to allow for this discount?
We value early orders because they allow us to produce and ship more efficiently for the holidays.
But do we need to call it “Black Friday” and fuel a culture of excessive spending immediately after a day dedicated to gratitude? How much of these profits go toward marketing gimmicks that could, perhaps should, be reinvested in creating a truly excellent product? A product that grows a brand organically through customer demand, as ours has—spreading to 300 stores and even the screens of NYC taxis without a PR firm or paid advertising, simply through word of mouth and programs like Suggest A Store.
Or what if these profits were used to improve supply chains? For example, building better fermentation facilities at cacao origins—something we’ve invested in to ensure higher-quality chocolate and better livelihoods for farmers.
Ultimately, part of the solution lies in individual choices: stepping back to consider how and why we consume. Is Black Friday the holiday mindset we truly want to support?
But more importantly, we must confront the systemic issues driving this yearly hysteria. Only by addressing these deeper inequalities can we create a more mindful and sustainable future for the holidays—and beyond.
