New to Netflix from today, and arriving just before the Black Friday sales, is the documentary film, Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy. Directed by Nic Stacey, the docu-film looks at consumerism on a huge scale, with a specific focus on the way in which companies push products, and how the average Joes of the world (that’s you and I) buy the heck out of ‘em!
Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy zeroes in on the language, the incentives, and the decisions that go into selling day-to-day products, and peels back the curtain on various tricks of the trade. The film also highlights the sheer scale of the shopping epidemic, including all the waste that comes from owning countless gadgets and gizmos.
Featuring input from various industry insiders, including those who have driven products for Adidas, Apple, Amazon, and Unilever, Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy provides an interesting look at retail and retailers. It talks about the way in which products are continually being sold and re-sold, and how companies are maximising profits on a colossal scale.
Yes, shopping is an addiction, but are we the user or are we being used? A great deal of decisions go into flogging products to consumers, with companies finding ways to sell us things we didn’t know we needed and Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy does its best to cover this.
Is Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy a must-watch docu-film? No, and there is nothing particularly dynamic about the storytelling, but at times the film is insightful.
It is arguably at its best when it places the focus on labels, recycling, and all the greenwashing that takes place, but there are some other captivating moments too. The film certainly knows how to keep viewers watching, and for a documentary that clocks in at just under 90 mins it has enough material to round out its runtime.
All-in-all, while Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy isn’t amazing, it’s informative enough and should get consumers thinking a little more about their role in mass consumption. The purpose of the film is to lift the lid on what is going on in the boardroom, the warehouse, and the shop floor, and demonstrate how this ultimately impacts the world.
Spoiler warning: It impacts the world greatly. But then we already know this, and often turn a blind eye, so perhaps we need a documentary like Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy to regularly remind us we are all part of the problem.
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