A free shop and the Food Not Bombs stall were set up outside the Virgin Megastore, on the border of the Bullring Complex. The Free Shop was stocked with a selection of clothing, toys, games and Food Not Bombs served free curry, fruit and vegan cakes.

In conjunction with the Free Shop and Food Not Bombs, a day of mischief had been planned by a small collective in the weeks leading to Buy Nothing Day, and began with our non-shoppers paying a visit to Nike Town, craftily sticker-ing. Inspired by a window-shop mannequin which was wearing 6 hoodies simultaneously, we endeavoured to establish just how much of the Nike range one could wear simultaneously. Seemingly all of it! Staff were honest enough to not recommend the purchase of such an outfit, despite rumours that the ‘ski-on-top cyclist-on-the-bottom all-weather-footballer’ look was very much the ‘in’ style this winter.

Round the corner, at Birmingham’s favourite photo spot – The Bull – that proudly stands outside the Bullring, was momentarily overshadowed, as a more popular family photo opportunity emerged: the giant accumulation of 100% genuine Corporate Bull™shit that had so gracelessly tumbled from the bovine anus. Children flocked to have their picture taken with it. Grinning parents nodded in agreement with the ‘Corporate Bullshit’ slogan which labelled it.

As many of us know, the Winona-Ryder-celebrity-shoplifter-chic is old news among UK consumers, and this season shop-dropping is the new black. Rather than stealing the detritus that these corporations have for sale, we instead strive to give back all the rubbish they’ve been selling people over the years. Dubbed ‘product placement’, we strive to subvert the window-shops of our favourite chains-stores with a more honest approach to marketing. Rather than marketing useless tat as a must-have accessory, we let the product speak for itself: looks like crap - is crap. It’s lack of practical usage its key selling point.

To prove this point, we proceeded to try and buy this rubbish back from the sales assistants, hoping that they would not notice the difference between our rubbish, and their rubbish that already littered the window-shops. One such product-line that we added to their stock was a few pairs of battered 60’s wooden shoes, complete with retractable wheels, that were sadly un-claimed from the Free Shop. A primitive pair of skates, ‘roller-clogs’, if you will. A member of staff – as predicted - so used to his employers selling utter junk, that he took a pair round the back, to check if they had another pair in our size. Alas, they returned empty handed.

“An introduction to Radical Rambling” then took place outside Waterstones, where non-shoppers were talked through the process of regaining the Public Right of Way that used to (or may still, we await the data…) beneath the Bullring, as well as other Rights of Way that are under threat elsewhere in Birmingham. We were also briefed with the rules relating to behaviour in the Bullring, and the positive impact reversing a stopping order on the Right of Way could have on this.

One of the objectives of the day was to take back space that had been entirely neutralised, and put it to a different use, or give it a different aesthetic. In keeping with this idea, the Topshop mannequins were treated to quick make-over of rubbish, including some banana neckwear, and a kid’s stethoscope. Taking this idea a step further, we endeavoured to practice some Corporate Feng-Shui, where we could take items from one part of the store and move them to another - where they weren’t intended - but would create a more desirable aesthetic for the potential consumer. It was thus decided that we would decorate the House of Fraser home section into our own living room, fit for a Christmas party. Decorations and tinsel were taken from the floor above, the stereo was plugged in, party hats were distributed and cakes, drinks and jelly were consumed. It was a delightful festive gathering.

Eventually thrown out, we reached the end of what was (in my opinion) a successful, albeit small-scaled, day of action.

 http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/

Related articles:

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2005/11/328394.html

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2005/11/328338.html