Companies don't just encourage us to shop during Christmas. They use dirty tricks to try to maximize their profits. A new documentary from Netflix shows how to achieve this—even for minimalists.
While major companies are promoting Black Friday deals, Netflix has also launched a documentary on mass consumption: “Buy Now – The Shopping Conspiracy.”
The film reveals how corporations manipulate us into buying more and more products. Former employees of Amazon, Apple, and Adidas talk about the ridiculous practices these companies still use today.
These are the techniques and their consequences:
Born for garbage
It’s no longer a conspiracy that many products quickly break beyond repair—from clothes that lose shape after just a few washes to computer batteries that can’t be replaced.
This phenomenon has a name: obsolescence or wear and tear.
A classic example is the light bulb. Their lifespan was once shortened to increase sales. But the strategy isn't just delivering stellar sales for lighting manufacturers.
“Maintenance has been systematically eliminated from our lives.”
Kyle Vines
“About 13 million smartphones are thrown away every day,” said Nirha Pate, co-designer of FaceTime and a former Apple developer. “While these devices are highly advanced and expensive and represent the pinnacle of our industrial capabilities as a civilization, they are It’s a one-time thing. This is simply sick.”
A world full of trash: This documentary depicts a city filled with trash.Image: Netflix
On average, Pate says, we buy a new smartphone every two or three years. Often it's not because we always want the latest thing, but because it's simply not designed for long-term use.
Kyle Wiens, founder of equipment repair company I Fix it, says repairs have systematically disappeared from our lives. In recent years, this has become a difficult task.
Vines said these companies not only deprive you of information on how to patch your device, but they also make repairs more difficult. For example, the device is glued or welded together so that it cannot be opened again.
This development turned Vines into a maintenance rebel. He provides repair instructions on his website. Cause trouble to the business. He received multiple injunctions. “Lawyers are trying to censor this knowledge to the world,” Wiens said.
destroyed into rubbish
American Anna Sachs rummaged through bins, looking for food and reusable items and trying to figure out what companies were throwing away.
Anna Sacks rescues food and valuables from New York's trash heaps.Image: Netflix
From time to time she comes across products that are no longer usable: “These products are sometimes deliberately cut open so that no one can use them anymore. Many companies also try to prevent price cuts because otherwise the brand image would be seen as cheap. ”
Sachs encouraged retail workers to talk about how they intentionally destroy merchandise. They recounted their experiences using the hashtag #RetailMadeMe:
«I once worked in a luxury coffee shop. There, I had to throw the baked goods in the trash before they expired and pour coffee grounds over them.
“I had to destroy makeup and was photographed doing it.”
«I used to work for a manufacturer of care products. Homeless people fished some of our discarded products out of the trash. Then the supervisor asked us to squeeze the products into the trash can. “
Waste goes astray
Jim Puckett – also known as the “James Bond of rubbish” – has been tracking down illegally dumped rubbish for years. He does this by equipping his shipments with trackers that take them to recycling points and track where they actually end up. The waste has always been there, but now it's more toxic and harder to break down, Puckett said.
In the documentary, Jim Puckett shows how he works: in Dresden, Germany, he handles a monitor equipped with a tracker. The monitor is shipped to Thailand via Antwerp.
“It's not just waste, it's toxic waste.”
Jim Puckett
Despite international bans (the Basel Convention), e-waste is often exported to developing countries, where precious metals are extracted from the devices.
Puckett traveled to Thailand to demonstrate waste management there. In fact, workers crush e-waste by hand. This can release highly toxic substances such as lead, mercury or brominated flame retardants, which can harm workers' health and harm the environment when they enter water or soil. “So it's not just waste, it's toxic waste,” Puckett said.
Donated clothes end up in the ocean
Some companies offer recycling bins – promising to give items a second life. But ultimately it’s to further drive consumption.
Many of the donated clothes are exported to countries such as Ghana. Most of the works find no second home there and instead become a nuisance. The crowd is hard to beat. “Ghana has a population of about 30 million and 15 million pieces of clothing arrive every week,” said Ghanaian designer Chloe Asaam.
“There are too many clothes in the world. Stop making new ones. Not anymore the fuck.”
Cloe Assam
Trash piles up on a beach in Ghana. Image: Netflix
But scope isn't the only issue. Many parts were unusable due to poor and cheap build quality. With no disposal points, they are dumped on beaches and eventually washed into the sea.
No place on the eco-friendly shelf
Maren Costa worked as a user experience designer at Amazon, encouraging impulsive online purchases. Today, she is an environmental activist.
“When I worked at Amazon, it seemed impossible for people to buy something online. You would just buy a pair of jeans online, which was a weird idea,” Costas said.
But Amazon succeeded in making buying jeans online a habit and permanently changing consumer behavior — but not in an environmental sense.
Maren Costa reveals that Amazon also influences our buying behavior in subtle ways. «We tested countless color and text variations to find out what made the most money. Even the color of the “Buy Now” button has been studied to the smallest detail. “
Millions of products are just a click away. Image: Netflix
Online shopping is not only convenient but also tempting. “Because purchases are just a click away, you don’t have to think about whether you really need something and buy more,” Costa said.
Through his work at the company, Costa became increasingly aware of the huge environmental impact of online transactions. She wanted to do something about it. She worked with other employees to develop the climate plan.
Amazon boasted about the plan. But Costa said emissions continued to rise. When she pointed this out to the company, she was fired.
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