I start to write an article about the well-known Greek version of Black Friday and at the same time I succeed in the new creative campaign of the company Kotsovolos which communicates in a familiar and particularly funny way a shopping celebration, bringing the Black Friday festival to the measure of the modern Greek consumer.
The truth is that its institution Black Friday "all Greek" of course it's Greek, they just used to call it a bazaar or a fair...
Like many Thessalonians, we also grew up in a summer house in Halkidiki. What I remember from my childhood there, apart from bathing in the shallow and warm sea, is also the Saint Mama's festival that takes place sometime in late August, early September.
It is the largest in Halkidiki and is now estimated to gather close to 200,000 visitors.
What can one find at a fair? Everything and nothing. Clothes and especially underwear, sleepwear and socks are the main protagonists. Panties, bras and stockings everywhere. Electronics from unknown sources, housewares, carpets and curtains, to sheets and towels and from pots and pans to small furniture and decorations.
The difference between the traditional festival and Black Friday it's like at the fair you buy what you like and hope it turns out well and/or "makes money" while on Black Friday the offers are made by branded stores on branded products with all the security this can provide.
Already in the 60s in the USA, on the last Friday of November, for one day only, stores invited consumers to usher in the beginning of the Christmas season by shopping for gifts for loved ones, but also for themselves at the lowest prices of the year with discounts around 80%. These super-discounts started from the opening of the stores on Friday morning until they closed at night.
In Greece, of course, this is not the case in almost any case. We are seeing stores advertising Black Friday sales of the order of 10 – 20%. We see big chains that supposedly want to get off (that's the philosophy of the day) doing funny deals, or doing "Black Friday Friday to Sunday"... There have also been phenomena of raising prices a few days before to then make the "big offer' and many other funny facts.
Modern consumer trends follow many foreign habits. Suddenly in Greece we adopted Sunday brunch, baby shower, Halloween, habits that we didn't know a few years ago. We have introduced actions such as White Nights in order to strengthen the market with tempting offers in a non-discount season. And of course we also brought Black Friday, which we "Greekized" to make it more convenient for us.
But the saddest thing of all is the mentality that has been created in the majority of the world.
A scarcity mentality. Wait until you find something cheap. Settling for low quality and not enjoying what you want and deserve. Wait for the next sale, the next Black Friday, the next bazaar to get what you want. But even there to take what others want to offer you, what they have left over. To not travel to the places you want and desire, and to end up traveling only to the destinations of Ryanair and other low cost companies and even on the dates that are convenient for them...
Of course this is not limited to the consumer sector of life. It extends to all areas such as our relationships with other people. Thus experiencing one constant feeling of lack and dissatisfaction is strengthened within man I don't deserve his feeling. Feelings of worthlessness are particularly excruciating and stem from a person's low self-esteem. They refer to a person's lack of confidence in his personal value as a human being and as a consequence create problems in his life and interpersonal relationships.
This scarcity mindset creates a world of limited resources, possibilities, and opportunities. If you think that you can't change and that you can't get what you want out of life, most of the time you think that whatever you do doesn't count. Ultimately you believe that you too do not count and that the opportunities in life are few.
Let's play a game together. Imagine a world that is huge. In this world there are infinite resources and possibilities, as well as countless opportunities. Everything you do counts. Your choices matter. You count. Every new day is a day of endless opportunities!
This is its meaning "abundance mindset" coined by Covey and according to which man believes that there are enough resources and success for everyone. He contrasts it with the "scarcity mentality," that is, destructive and unnecessary competition, which is based on the idea that if someone else wins or succeeds in a situation, then you're the loser, and that there's no chance of everyone winning.
People with an abundance mindset, unlike the previous ones, are able to rejoice in the success of others and not be threatened by it, because they know the famous "win win".
Attitude is a decision. A choice. It is a choice to see things abundantly, it is a choice to see them limited. But you can make choices every day.
Today you can choose to see a world of abundance or a world of scarcity. You choose.
What world would you like to live in from now on?
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The article was published in the blog "for discussion" on Make up my mind:
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