Canada Day rebranded as "Moving Day" for Best Buy in Quebec

That was the flyer those of us in the RoC ("Rest-of-Canada") got for last weekend's holiday sale. But if you live in Quebec, you got one of these:

National advertisers are often told that Canadian patriotism doesn't sell as well in Quebec, especially among those who see the province's founding European-descended population as a unique and separate nation. But the big electronics retailer may have failed to understand that this kind of anti-Canada strategy — especially on the one day when most Canadians are fiercely proud of themselves — tends to enrage federalists everywhere.

You can enjoy the PR meltdown on their Facebook page. Here are some highlights (that didn't involve anti-French trolling):

Their French web site, by the way, has this:

Danielle Jang, spokeswoman for Best Buy, gave this hilarious response to CBC News:

"Like every year, we feel it is important to recognize the Moving Day holiday in Quebec because it is a significant day in this market and it's the only place in Canada where this happens. We want to celebrate and recognize this as an important day."

Developing...

Tip via Consumerist (because I was too busy celebrating... errr... "Moving Day"... to keep up with the local news.)

"Occupy Best Buy" on Black Friday? #OWS

Isn't that, like, the opposite of resisting capitalism?

This parody site, which says it is not affiliated with Best Buy, says its goal is "to get the best deals on Black Friday". There's even a manifesto:

Let's hope this is a joke, because whatever you think of Occupy Wall Street, you have to give them credit for their autonomy: "It is not a business, a political party, an advertising campaign or a brand.  It is not for sale."

And it's definitely not down with camping out for the best deals on cheap-foreign-labour-built, disposable, landfill-filling personal electronics.

Tip via Buzzfeed

Best Buy lets me say "Bye Bye" to electronic junk

I don't usually blog on the weekend, but I'm working today anyway, and I'm pretty excited about this Corporate Social Responsibility initiative by Best Buy:

From October 16, to October 21, Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores across Canada will offer Trade-In incentives on a number of products including:

- Trade-in your LCD or tube TV and save up to $200 off the purchase of
a Best Buy exclusive ENERGY STAR (R) HDTV
- Trade-in your old VCR and receive $30 off the purchase of a
Toshiba DVD recorder or $20 off a Samsung Blu-ray player
- Trade-in your old remote control and receive 15 per cent off a Harmony
remote control
- Bring in any camera or camcorder and save up to $100 on a new Canon
camera or camcorder
- Bring in your old laptop or desktop computer and receive $100 off the
purchase of any Toshiba Laptop
- Bring in your old monitor and save $50 off an Energy Star-rated
HP monitor
- Trade in your old telephone and receive $30 off the purchase of any
Panasonic multi-handset cordless phone
- Trade in your old GPS system and save $50 with an upgrade to the
TomTom GO730 GPS with BlueTooth capabilities
- Trade in your old headphones and receive up to $20 off of select
Sony and Bose headphones

As both an '80s guy and a (not yet ready for reality TV) hoarder, I have accumulated a huge pile of semi-functional, obsolete technology in my basement. Remember when stereos came in components? Well, convergence has made most of them redundant.

My big issue was that I knew these things were hazardous waste. You don't want your fake fur covered quadraphonic 8-track receiver going into the town dump. Even newer items can contain lead, mercury, and other nasty stuff. Not to mention what a waste it is to throw out all that metal.

I tried to give away the old components, using the urban tradition of leaving it out by the curb. Not even the scroungers would take them. (Well, they did take some old speakers, but that was it.)

I looked into local recyclers, and they tend to be out in the country, and charge to take things like TVs and monitors. I figured that big box retailers must have some sort of responsibility program to compensate for all the disposable electronics they put out there, but didn't see anything obvious. Then a Facebook friend posted the Best Buy link. I was ecstatic.

So this morning, I loaded up my wife's car with electronic junk and took it in. The guy at the door was friendly, and helpful, and took it right off my hands. They took my broken iron, too! I didn't even want trade-in discounts (there are no coupons, just instant point-of-sale credit for things I don't really need more of). I was just thrilled to know that I now have a couple more square meters of storage space — and I did it right.

Thanks, Best Buy. Bye bye, home entertainment trash.