Last year, REI, the outdoor recreation mega-store, did the unimaginable. Instead of opening its doors at 5 am on Black Friday, it closed them. That’s right, instead of cashing in on the post-Thanksgiving-dinner-food-coma shopping sprees, REI closed all 143 stores for the day, encouraging its employees and millions of others to #OptOutside and enjoy the outdoors with their loved ones. And many did just that. Over 1,408,117 people posted pictures on social media with the hashtag #OptOutside, sharing their outdoor adventures on Black Friday. REI plans on closing their doors again this year and hoping for even more people to join them this time around.
In our society, this is unheard of. Not only are businesses driven by profit margins, but also our population is increasingly driven by consumerism. If you have ever seen pictures or experienced the madness that is Black Friday, you know that hundreds, even thousands of people line up at storefronts at ungodly hours for ridiculous deals at their favorite stores. In recent years, the sales started even before the last piece of pumpkin pie is eaten, requiring some workers to leave early from Thanksgiving dinner to prepare for the masses. Isn’t is ironic that on a holiday in which we are supposed to be grateful for what we already have, we are completely consumed by the things we want?
Now don’t get me wrong, there are some great sales on Black Friday that are hard to pass up (I’m guilty of it). But maybe we shouldn’t put a price tag on the holidays or the time we have with our families. The #OptOutside campaign is sending a message to all of us that we need to start rethinking how we think about holidays. REI is breaking all of the rules and encouraging us to do the same. So where will you be this Black Friday?
For more information and to find places near you to #OptOutside click here.
The pictures in this article are not the property of Her Campus or the author.