The Ordinary Pokes Fun at Black Friday Madness by Closing Its Stores

As a brand based on integrity and scientific rigour, The Ordinary believes Black Friday sales can do more harm than good encouraging people to buy quickly vs. intentionally and often for no good reason with most sales being misdirects.

The Ordinary and Uncommon Creative Studio follow their critically acclaimed outdoor series - which capitalised on minimal art direction and meticulously crafted copy - with new outdoor executions instead with a focus on the disingenuous 'deals' the industry can offer on Black Friday.

In a category obsessed with faces, the first outdoor work from Uncommon focused on beautifully written words speaking to the brand’s philosophy of science over celebrity and marketing claims. The new 'Slowvember' campaign continues this copy-led approach - however, this time with a ‘Black Friday twist’ - encouraging consumers to shop with intention, consideration and time.

Instead of the shifting deals brands can offer to drive 'FOMO' on Black Friday, The Ordinary are providing a blanket promotion of 23% off all month long as well as a further act of commitment by closing down its website and physical stores on the day of Black Friday.

To amplify these acts by the brand, the new outdoor use luminous price tags and mimic sales tactic language to expose the hidden truths behind these proposed discounts and deals.

Brands globally across every category launch an array of sales, discounts and promotions to lure consumers in. On average, global consumers spend £410 on Black Friday sales - much of this is driven by an increase in sales tactics used to distract people into getting things they might not need - from false scarcity, to misleading deals, to full-on scams.

These flashy, price-slashing stickers are accompanied by clever copy that warns shoppers of the false, disingenuous deals they may face. The neon stickers were hand-scanned and applied physically to the artwork to capture these deals as if they were seen in physically in-store.

The Ordinary will close its stores and website on 29th November in a continued stance against Black Friday and its inherently rushed and panicked profile as a period of big savings.

The out-of-home executions will be live throughout November across sites in the US and UK.