Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy (2024) Documentary Review - PDF

*Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy* (2024) unveils the hidden realities of consumerism, exposing how major corporations manipulate shoppers into excessive spending while placing profits above environmental welfare. Through compelling interviews with whistleblowers and industry insiders, the documenta...

*Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy* (2024) unveils the hidden realities of consumerism, exposing how major corporations manipulate shoppers into excessive spending while placing profits above environmental welfare. Through compelling interviews with whistleblowers and industry insiders, the documentary reveals the strategies companies use to fuel overconsumption. It delves into the environmental fallout of these practices, from the mounting e-waste dumped in Asia to the contaminated waterways of Ghana. By shedding light on these issues, the film challenges viewers to question their buying habits and resist the traps laid by profit-driven brands. Pause Unmute Loaded: 3.86% Fullscreen **This article contains spoilers.** **Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy (2024) Documentary Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:** The documentary begins with an AI guide, taking viewers on a compelling journey that explores the impact of consumerism on both the environment and individuals, weaving together insights from interviews with experts and insiders. The first person interviewed is Maren, who worked at Amazon for 15 years as a principal User Experience Designer. Amazon has a patent for the phrase 'one-click buying,' which was Jeff Bezos's idea. When Maren joined Amazon, she understood that the system was built to provide a one-stop solution to all the needs of the consumers. According to Maren and the others, this is a complex science to encourage people to buy more things. This is not just the case with Amazon; most big corporations do so. **What is the purpose of a one-click buy?** AI Sasha gives us five rules or lessons for profit maximization that large corporations use. The former Brand President of Adidas, Eric feels he has contributed to the destruction of the environment while working for Adidas. According to Eric, the companies' narratives encourage consumers to buy more. The biggest turnaround for Adidas after the company's market was going down was with a new launch of shoes and collaboration with celebrities. A clothing manufacturer, Roger, says Roger's company sells 1 out of 6 dress shirts in the US. According to Roger, there was a need for new clothes every few months, but now, with fast fashion being popular, companies require new products every month. According to Google results, GAP produces around 12,000 new items per year, H&M produces 25,000 a year, Zara produces 36,000 items yearly, and SHEIN produces 1.3 million new items yearly. However, Roger thinks the official numbers are a lot higher. When Maren started to work with Amazon, online shopping was not necessarily an ideal choice for consumers. At that time, it seemed fun, and Amazon realized that selling apparel and food could be profitable. The idea behind a one-click buy was to stop consumers from thinking critically if they needed a product as it was fast and easy. At that time, Maren felt she was making shopping fun and a delightful experience, but she didn't realize the consequences of what she was doing. **Why is there a constant need to buy electronics every few years?** Buy Now: The Shopping ConspiracyAnother still from "Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy" Former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman says that people are encouraged to consume more products. Companies dictate when to throw away a product and buy a new one. CEO of Framework, Nirav Patel has been working with consumer electronics for decades. The FaceTime feature was one of Nirav's contributions to Apple phones. Apple started to launch new phones, saying they had improved specific software or hardware, encouraging consumers to buy this new product. Everything Apple did was followed by the other electronic companies who started to do the same. Founder and CEO of iFixit, Kyle Wiens's company fixes electronic products to last longer, stopping consumers from buying new products often. Often, iFixit gets copyright takedowns as the company repairs objects, reducing consumers' need to purchase new electronic products. To make repairing difficult, companies like Apple started to make their products with things that could not be repaired or were hard to fix. One product that Kyle hates is the air pods/ear pods, as the batteries in them cannot be replaced. Furthermore, phones have taken away the earphone jack to make consumers buy ear pods. Former Investment Banker Anna Sacks exposes how companies dispose of perfectly usable products by destroying them. **Can the recycle labels be trusted?** When Anna started a campaign encouraging employees to come forward to talk about the lousy waste disposal management by their companies, the truth began to come to light. One Bath and Body Works employee recalls that homeless people would dumpster dive and use Bath and Body Works products. Hence, the company asks the employees to drain out the bottles as Bath and Body Works could not be associated with the brand that homeless people use. Amazon is one of those companies that dumps good items into landfills without rhyme or reason. Former Marketing Executive Mara realizes that consumers trust businesses and everything they say. Sadly, the companies like to show the consumers that they are all for protecting and saving the environment while these companies contribute to environmental destruction. Companies like Coca-Cola and others say recycling solves the plastic problems, but the real solution is to make less plastic. A chemical engineer, Jan Dell, says that most labels lie in a supermarket or any store. These labels claim their products are recyclable, but Jan says most plastics cannot be recycled. It is something that the companies do, so the consumer does not feel guilty about buying the product. When a label says that a product can be reused, it only means that it will be sorted and buried or burned when the product is disposed of. The same applies to store drop-off as the companies do not recycle but dump or burn. **Where does electronic and clothing waste ultimately reach?** According to Jen, only about 10% of items are recycled globally. Companies take things a step further by using a technique called Greenwashing. This means that companies pretend to care about the environment but, in reality, don't care at all. However, some companies are putting in the effort but not at the level that makes a difference to the environment. When Maren was working with Amazon, employees got together and raised their voices to ensure Amazon was more sustainable. When nothing was making a difference, Amazon employees went on strike. Soon after that, Jeff Bezos announced a climate pledge. Waste investigator Jim Puckett has spent his career tracking and figuring out what happens to waste that is disposed of. At the time of the documentary, Jim tracks about 400 devices. They do that by placing a tracker in LED/LCD Televisions and giving it to the recyclers. One such case was when an object left a recycling facility in Germany and reached Belgium. This sort of waste is supposed to be illegal to be shipped abroad, but companies find ways to break the rules. From Belgium, the Television ended up in Thailand. Companies usually ship these electronic devices and other products to Asia since getting rid of them there is cheaper. Ultimately, the workers there are prone to health conditions as electronics have many substances like mercury that have side effects on one's health. While electronics waste reaches Asia, clothing waste reaches the water bodies of Ghana. **Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy (2024) Documentary Explained:** **What are the five rules or lessons for profit maximization?** A still from "Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy" A designer, Chloe Asaam, working on the ground, realizes the numerous problems faced by people because of waste dumped in Ghana. When people donate clothes back to the company, they get exported to places like Ghana. Many of the clothes are also made of polyester, which contains a lot of microplastic. The microplastic goes into the water and returns to our food, harming the ecosystem and humans. The waste will infiltrate either in air, water, or ground. There is no other way. Sadly, when Amazon pledged for the climate movement, Maren recalls that Amazon only counts 1% of its items sold for carbon footprint. Two years after Jeff made the pledge, Amazon's emissions increased by 40%. However, Maren continued to talk about what was happening in Amazon. The company took notice and fired Maren immediately. After that, Maren realized to make the change, she needed to be a part of the government and is now running for Seattle City Council. The five rules or lessons for profit maximization are 1) sell more, 2) waste more, 3) lie more, 4) hide more, and 5) control more. The advice all the members in the interviews have to say is to buy less. Another advice is to put what you need in your cart and wait a month. Even after that you need it then buy it. There is also a message for the companies to take responsibility to plan what happens to their product at the end of its cycle. The companies should not put the responsibility on the consumer and take responsibility for waste management. **A Wake-Up Call for Conscious Consumerism** AI in the documentary series is a satirical representation of the companies that neglect environmental impact due to a lack of waste management planning. The documentary deep dives into how brands control consumers into buying more than necessary. To meet the demand, companies are producing more items. Sadly, a lot of waste is made from it. Unfortunately, some companies also lie about how safe or unsafe their products are for the environment. In a capitalistic society, it is easy to forget the environmental implications of our actions. However, the documentary reminds consumers to be more mindful about buying anything. While "Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy" successfully spreads awareness, we don't see any simple solutions discussed. For instance a conversation about what is recyclable or not, we hear the interviewee say that most things cannot be recycled, but we don't know how to figure out what is or isn't. It would be more meaningful for the makers to add small solutions for viewers to take away from and make a difference in their little world. Overall, the documentary will start a meaningful conversation at the right time.