Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy

I like to think I'm a conscientious person when it comes to the environment and consumption, but I feel sick to learn how bad these problems are. The documentary did a great job showing how corporations lie to us and compel us to buy. And it revealed the huge scope of the environmental and health disasters brewing. I took two stars off for the annoying AI and graphics and for leaving the viewer without any real solutions. As a budding minimalist I can see how mindless consumption is contributing to pollution and waste. I just hope I can get my friends and family to watch this documentary. Schools and universities should make it required viewing. We need to get the younger generations thinking about it and help solve this disaster!

The holidays were the perfect time to watch the documentary, "Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy", which was a timely reminder of the unsustainable consumerism fueling this late stage of capitalism, a system at odds with the health of our planet. This educational and entertaining documentary doesn't break much new ground, but effectively underscores a sobering reality: from floating islands of plastic rubbish in the Pacific to beaches in Ghana choked with discarded fast fashion, our buying habits have dire consequences. While not the most comprehensive take on the issue, its brevity works in its favor, driving home a clear message: we don't need most of the stuff we accumulate. Is it really necessary to rent storage for things we barely use? The new year is a good time to declutter, shop thoughtfully, and embrace small, sustainable changes. If you're looking for a quick dose of inspiration to consume less and live more intentionally, this is worth a watch.

Yeah, we all know Amazon is a monster... This can only be informative to newbies to consumerist ideology. Or those seriously in denial, but why would they watch this? How would they even come across it? There's about 20 minutes of this that is informative or interesting to me. 20 minutes overall.

Otherwise it's relying on some garishly colourful visuals and some basic animation as a gimmick for the narrative approach. That app teaching you how to become rich by increasing sales and wrecking the environment at all costs is pretty cringe, both in the dialogue and the design. I would've preferred straightforward documentary narration with hard-hitting facts.

There's great info in this documentary, but it was presented in a juvenile way. The computer generated voice that leads the viewer from topic to topic, scene to scene, was beyond annoying. By the time it was over, I felt like I had experienced a net loss of intelligence. The presentation was definitely, in my opinion, not directed to my generation (boomer) and maybe that's to be expected. In a movie titled "Buy Now-The Shopping Conspiracy", I would have expected to see a segment on influencers and such and was disappointed that the topic was skipped. Lastly, I did come away from the movie with an image in my head of how much useless clothing is in my closet and why it's there... Because it was cheap enough to be easy to buy and throw away/donate when I was done with it. And I think that's the bottom line. I'll try to be better.

A very uncomfortable reality check on how businesses work at a macro level.

Something that could've been added was how we can make it better (the solutions part was briefly showcased in the end)

But it's a must watch for everyone who believes and doing good for the planet and understanding the problem in depth.

Highly recommended and a great work by the team who took the leap of faith in putting it together. Kudos to all the business professionals who came out and share the truths about how big companies operate.

I hope this serves as a reminder on where are we heading as humanity and what kind of future are we passing on to our future generations.