The habit increased manifold during Covid 19, when there was a lot of ‘timepass’ buying going on. But that ease of one-click shopping and easy returns made people buy more than what they needed, or sometimes what they didn’t even know they needed. Most consumers are not even aware that there is a science to laying out merchandise in a way that induces people to buy more.
A new documentary on Netflix, Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy reveals what most sensible people ought to have known, but didn’t want to admot to the fact that they were being manipulated into shopaholism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVfZw_eqJW8
Nic Stacey’s documentary gets insiders to talk about how the Amazon empire grew to such gigantic proportions worldwide; that there is such a thing as planned obsolescence, that forces people to change their electronic or mechanical devices regularly, because there are new features or updates available. When having the latest phone, sneakers or designer outfits becomes a status symbol, people are attracted to it magnetically.
That brings up another uncomfortable truth — waste. There are such massive amouts of waste being generated, that it’s disposal is a problem. Consequently, not only are earth’s resources being misused, there is also a slow poisoning of the environment.
Amazon, Adidas, Apple are named as the key offenders, but there are others. Maren Costa, a former “user experience designer” at Amazon, explains how the company designed an online shopping platform that manipulates buyers to buy more; Eric Liedtke, former Adidas brand president, talks of the footwear and apparel giant churning out new products at an alarming rate; Nirav Patel, former software engineer at Apple, reveals how products are designed so that they cannot be repaired– they have to be replaced.
Kyle Wiens, who runs an online repair-guide company, iFixit, receives legal notices from companies that do not want their products repaired.
Along with interviews, the documentary uses animation and AI imagery to highlight what is coming in the near future, if people do not curb their mindless consumerism.
As people add more to their cart and discard their working gadgets to buy new models, the, e-waste is rising by millions of tonnes annually and is expected to hit more than 82 million tonnes by 2030.
If not disposed of properly or recycled, this mountain of waste is fast becoming a health hazard. The world is on the brink of environmental disaster. This documentary is a wake-up call to think before buying!
Director: Nic Stacey
On Netflix
