In Pictures: Global backlash against Black Friday intensifies

SUMMARY

People don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in many parts of the world, but they do shop on Black Friday. The US sales phenomenon has spread to retailers across the world in recent years with such force that it’s prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers. Near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked a shopping mall and gathered in from of Amazon’s headquarters to protest over-production they say is killing the planet. Workers at Amazon in Germany went on strike for better pay. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday altogether. Consumer rights groups in Britain and some other countries say retailers use Black Friday as a slogan to lure in shoppers, but it’s not always clear how real or big the discounts are. Other critics say it hurts small businesses.

By APNov 30, 2019 6:41:11 PM IST (Published)

People sit on a tram advertising the Black Friday in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A customer walks down the aisle of a shop in the Carrefour Shopping center at the eve of the Black Friday event, in Cesson, western France, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019. Some French lawmakers are considering banning Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving sales event that has morphed into a global phenomenon. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

A shopper with large ticket goods is seen during the opening of an Auchan general store, on Black Friday, Nov 29, 2019, in Englos, northern France. A legislative committee passed an amendment Monday that proposes prohibiting Black Friday since it causes "resource waste" and "overconsumption." The amendment will be debated in the National Assembly next month. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

A demonstrator "plays dead" during climate change protest outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Johannesburg Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Environmentalists around the world are joining a global day of protests Friday, in a symbolic gesture to demand that governments act against climate change. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

An activist blocks a shopping center, in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Activists block a shopping center, in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. The placard reads « For your children » .(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Activists block a shopping center, in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Activists block a shopping center, in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. The banner reads « Let's burn capitalism, not oil ». (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Activists block a shopping center, in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A woman walks past Greenpeace activists standing inside a store window display during a Black Friday sale in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Banner reads ' Black day for the Planet'. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Women walk past a poster promoting the Black Friday in Rennes, western France, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, in Rennes. To French activists, Black Friday is the epitome of this shift, a purely commercial event designed to boost U.S. retailers ahead of the Christmas holidays, the symbol of capitalism run amok. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

A woman walks past posters sticked by anti-Black Friday activists and reading "Amazon killed me", left, and "Amazon, 2 jobs disappear for one created" in Rennes, western France, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 in Rennes. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

People queue outside a store during a Black Friday sale in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Women stand in front of a poster promoting the Black Friday in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A woman walks past a sticker promoting the Black Friday in the business district of Paris, La Défense, in Paris, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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