A Better Friday: How Your Choices Have an Impact This Black Friday

Black Friday is looming and people in the UK are set to spend a whopping £3.9 billion hoovering up deals and discounted goods. 

Why is it called Black Friday?

The term was originally coined by 1950s Philadelphia police officers in reference to the chaos they often witnessed the Friday after Thanksgiving when people flooded out to start shopping for Christmas presents. To take advantage, US retailers began offering discounted prices on this day to encourage spending and started to rack up big profits. The trend later moved to the UK after US owned businesses saw an opportunity to begin marketing Black Friday over here.

In a world of ever increasing pressure to buy, the day has now become synonymous with overconsumption and massive waste, while big businesses soak up the profits without any of the responsibility for said waste.

At Y.O.U Underwear, a social enterprise company founded on the basis that the clothing we wear shouldn’t cost the Earth, we reject these often irresponsible promotions and the spending urgency they encourage. While buying gifts for your friends and family at Christmas can be a lovely gesture and a way to show that you care, we feel that piling up endless, often poorly made products means the gift sharing spirit is lost. 

How can you avoid falling for Black Friday deals?

The deals and promotions being advertised at this time of year can often feel too good to be missed and are designed to create a sense of urgency in consumers and a feeling of missing out if they don’t participate. However, this usually means you’ll end up making snap decisions that you’ll probably regret later.

Instead, it can be helpful to take a step back and think more carefully about what you actually need and how much you’re truly saving. Making a list of the things you’re planning to purchase and when you’d use them might help you to avoid ending up with things you don’t need.

What is the meaning of Green Friday?

At Y.O.U Underwear, we are committed to working to reduce waste in the fashion industry and encourage people to shop more mindfully while getting more wear out of their clothing. For this reason, we consciously opt out of Black Friday by never running promotions and deals at this time. 

Instead, we are turning Black Friday into Green Friday! This means that, every year on Black Friday, we plant a tree for every order placed over the Black Friday weekend (Friday 28th to Monday 1st). Last year, that meant we were able to plant 26 young trees in our Y.O.U forest. 

As always, our Buy One Give One policy applies to every product bought from our range. With every item bought, we will donate one pair of underwear with our charity partners. When you purchase from our core underwear collection, we donate underwear with Smalls for All, with underwear from the brightly coloured Mara collection, we donate underwear to Maasai communities in Kenya, and with underwear from the Light Pink collection, we donate £1 to Maggie’s cancer support charity.

No discounts, no waste, real impact

For us, this is a much better impact for people and planet and one we are proud to promote all year round. 

How can you support small business?

If you are someone who shares our dismay at how big brands invent unnecessary needs and push consumption, then you can join the movement to have a more positive impact over Black Friday. By shopping locally, with small, independent businesses your hard earned money can have a much greater impact. With the eye watering amount of money projected to be spent in Britain over the Black Friday weekend, we can’t help but think about the incredible difference this money could make to the country’s small business community. Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) make up over 99% of total UK businesses and yet it will be the big brands raking in the profits.

Shop small, choose well, make a difference

Rather than spending money on poorly made items you don’t end up using once the discount high has worn off, consider supporting your local economy when Christmas shopping. Items produced by small businesses are often more unusual and more considerately made, plus it’s usually easier to get in touch with them when you have questions or comments. It is estimated that for every £10 spent with an independent business, up to £50 is circulated in the local economy rather than going into the pockets of big brand owners. That’s the kind of Black Friday investment we can get behind!

Take a look at some of our alternatives to shopping big high street brands for Black Friday 2025:

• Oxford Covered Market Late Night Christmas Shopping - On Friday 28th, most traders in the market will be staying open later for festive shopping. With Christmas decorations, live music, and mulled wine on offer to make it a wonderfully festive evening
• Buy Women Built Black Friday directory - The BWB community have come together to be part of a directory of women owned and founded brands to shop with over the Black Friday weekend, to make sure your money has an impact.
• Independent Oxford Christmas Market - On Saturday the 29th November, Tap Social Taproom in Botley is hosting the Indie Oxford Christmas Market, where you can find all sorts of products from Oxford's indie business community.

Keep reading for more Christmas inspiration:

What's the best underwear to buy as a gift?

Our Oxford Covered Market gift guide

Our ultimate eco friendly gift guide