Watch Out for Zombies this Black Friday!

[LAGC]

Members of the 75-person encampment on the grounds of the Old Ada County Courthouse in Boise plan to send "consumer zombies" out to wander among Boise shoppers on Friday in silent protest of what they consider unnecessary consumerism.

According to the Occupy Boise website, the Consumer Zombie event will take place at Boise Town Square mall from 2 to 3 p.m. Participants are encouraged to wear their Occupy Boise T-shirts.

The Boise events will take place in solidarity with those in other cities. Seattle protesters will carpool en masse to Wal-Mart stores, and protesters in Washington, D.C. have planned a free market where people can donate items they don't want, and take items they do.

The Consumer Zombie event is just one of three taking place on Friday and Saturday in Boise.

Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/11/23/1890800/occupy-boise-gears-up-for-black.html

Hell yeah! I'm been wondering what to do with that zombie mask that's been collecting dust in my closet.

Might have to hit up the local Best Buy early Friday morning and shame all the poor fools camped outside the doors in the freezing cold just so they can be the first to "shop till they drop" -- then proceed inside once they open and "harass" some customers until they kick me out. Might at least make a few people think twice about what's more important in life: that brand new big screen T.V., or all the folks suffering in the world right now due to "business as usual."

Wish us luck!

[NYC_SKP]

1. "Occupy the Hearts and Minds" of the rest of the 99%....

I sincerely hope the term "harass" is in jest, because such behavior will only cause people to dismiss our cause.

Peace.

[LAGC]

5. Yeah, I was just being sarcastic.

We'll just be wandering around with our arms outstretched -- not going to get in anyone's faces or anything.

We'll be seen, but not heard. (*Silent protest*)

[Bragi]

7. Sounds better. /nt

[dembotoz]

2. hope some footage ends up on youtube

sounds like fun

[Bragi]

3. This may be the worst political tactic ever

I agree with the sentiment of anti-consumerism, but I really can't see how this tactic is going to win converts.

The people who would support the message aren't present in the stores, and those that are in the stores will quite obviously know that they are being mocked.

How is that supposed to win converts?

[coalition_unwilling]

4. There's a fine line between feeling 'mocked' and feeling 'shamed' I'd say.

[Bragi]

6. Not sure "shaming" wins converts either

Isn't shaming usually targeted directly at odious people, and the point is that their shame is supposed to be a lesson for others, right?

Anyway, enough said by me. This just doesn't seem to be a good tactic to me, and I say that as someone who likes the whole Zombie thing.

[coalition_unwilling]

21. Hey, Bragi, sorry I cold not respond earlier. Occupy Los Angeles

is operating today under imminent threat of forcible eviction by law enforcement. (Happy Thanksgiving, eh?)

I agree that shaming may not win converts, but it may kick a few brain cells into the 'on' position.

OLA is planning 'Flash Mob Friday' at various area malls. Should be quite a theatrical spectacle (where better than LA for theater - no offense, New York City :)

[TheWraith]

8. And do you think people will respond any better to being publicly shamed?

I agree, this is not wise.

[Cirque du So-What]

10. You think people will feel 'shamed' by this?

If careful consideration is given the likely emotions felt by people who may have planned their entire budget around the sales that day, do you *really* think they'll feel 'shamed' by clowns walking around in stores, getting in people's way? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the occupy movement about attempting to bring about change by taking on the 1%? This will have zero effect upon any store's bottom line, and it'll just alienate potential allies. The emotion most likely aroused by this: anger. Shame? Probably not so much.

[RebelOne]

11. Shame? No. If I was one of the customers, I'd be doubled up in laughter. n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Some may laugh, yes...

but I believe that those who gets slowed down in any way won't see much humorous about it. I'd be willing to bet that more people get pissed off than find humor in it.

[coalition_unwilling]

22. They may not feel angry but it's clear from this and subsequent posts that you are very angry. I'm

not sure I understand why exactly.

If it draws folks' attention to mindless consumerism, yes, I think some may feel themselves not mocked but shamed. It is theater, designed to provoke a reaction in its audience.

I wish I could be there to see it (not much of an actor myself).

I hope you get over your anger in time for Thanksgiving and have a nice holiday.

[Cirque du So-What]

26. Why would I be angry?

Just because some assclown (not any DUer, but the person who hatched this harebrained scheme) is trying to entice others to bother people trying to shop - in the name of the occupy movement, mind you - as some sort of convoluted protest against...what, exactly? Against people trying to get the best bargain possible? What about that could possibly make me angry? That they're openly mocking fellow 99%ers? I should just mindlessly acquiesce to whatever the fuck ever some shithead who fashions himself grand poobah of the occupy movement imagines would be 'fun' or 'cute' - as long as it validates their half-assed notion of what the occupy movement is about? Well, fuck THAT! I will fucking well let him - and anyone else within earshot - know I think this idea is SHIT! It's bad enough that the RW is pulling out all the stops in an effort to discredit the occupy movement, but now we've got childish wannabee 'leaders' coming up with childish ideas that will alienate the public at large...but that's alright if it satisfies a personal sense of satisfaction. Naah...nothing at all to be angry about here. After all, there are egos to be assuaged, and that trumps any goals of the occupy movement, right? Oh, yeah, fun...must have fun...at the expense of others. Holy shit, where's the Tylenol?!?

[Cirque du So-What]

9. I see nothing good coming from this

Of all the forms of protest adopted by the occupy movement, this is perhaps the most ill-advised I've seen yet. Some people plan their entire gift-giving year around going to the right stores on that day, and the last thing they want is slow-moving zombies clogging the aisles, impeding everyone's progress. Instead of 'making people think twice about what's important in life,' it's more likely to create unsafe conditions and to escalate the possibility of real violence.

Besides, when did 'unnecessary consumerism' become a target of the occupy movement anyway? It sounds kinda sanctimonious to sit in judgment of what is and is not 'unnecessary' on the part of shoppers. This sounds more like a tactic employed by those who would seek to subvert the occupy movement by alienating the very people they ostensibly want to win to their side, and I consider all those who mindlessly go 'yup, yup, yup' to this addlepated scheme bigger 'sheep' than the shoppers they seek to ridicule.

[TheWraith]

13. Unfortunately, there's a lot of that attitude among some on the left.

Take for instance the recent highly recced thread entitled "The Revolution would like to apologize for shitting all over your apathy." It's nothing but an angry, snarky comment directed at creating a sense of moral superiority, and telling people who spend all their time working and looking after their family that they're supposedly somehow assholes for not living the way the speaker approves of.

In this case, they're literally calling people mindless zombies over the fact that they're shopping for the holidays. Yeah yeah, give me a line about "unnecessary consumption," but in between the part that really is excessive, and the people who feel so moral insisting on no shopping at all, lie the vast overwhelming majority of Americans who enjoy the holidays, including as an excuse for some gift giving.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. Sometimes 'the left' is their own worst enemy

Amusing though their antics may have been (think Yippies & the like), most of their pranks served to turn people away from the left in droves. In fact, I would lay a large part of the blame for Nixon's election right at the feet of so-called 'leftists' who fomented violence and otherwise showed their asses. The RW would be hard-pressed to come up with a better tactic than bankrolling 'leftists' who infuriate ordinary people and make nebulous allusions to violence against cops - and we've already seen both of these examples already. I hope the rank-and-file within the occupy movement have the good sense to discern between true allies and those who seek to subvert the movement from within. Not everyone who claims to be a 'friend' to the movement has its best interests in mind.

[Cirque du So-What]

14. Despite all the antics performed by Yippies

they at least had better sense than to mock the powerless - focusing their attention instead upon the MIC, the military itself & even Wall Street. I cannot say the same about a harebrained scheme to piss off regular people trying to stretch their buying power. I make a final plea to the organizers of this counterproductive endeavor, but when know-it-alls are involved, appeals to reason fall on deaf ears.

[LAGC]

19. Oh lighten up!

Most people will just laugh at the spectacle of real-life zombies wandering around the aisles... a nice break from the monotony.

[Cirque du So-What]

20. Fine. Do what you want.

Get back with us afterward if it turns out as yuck-worthy as you imagine.

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. Luck!

[Cirque du So-What]

17. 'Luck' with what, exactly?

Pissing off people? As I've already posted in this thread, there are historical examples of 'the left' sometimes being their own worst enemy. All ideas are NOT created equal, and I consider this one particularly loathsome and counterproductive.

[krispos42]

18. My freshly-minted sister-in-law has to be at work at midnight tonight.

Her store, Victoria's Secret, in a friggin' MALL. People will have to go through Macy's and wander around an otherwise-closed mall to find her store.

*sigh*


And I have to be at work at 4am for a conference call with Holland. Damn time zones! :cry:

[rucky]

23. If they're looking for braaaains, they may be disappointed. n/t

[LongTomH]

24. +1000

Best comment yet --- for this thread!:thumbsup:

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. Uh-oh! Look at 1:54 :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyaK3jo4Sl4