Netflix today announced that 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy,' an unpredictable and revealing new documentary from the Academy Award-winning Grain Media, will debut on November 20, 2024.

Directed by Emmy-winning writer and filmmaker Nic Stacey, Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy pulls back the curtain on the world’s top brands, exposing the hidden tactics and covert strategies used to keep all of us locked in an endless cycle of buying—no matter the cost.

Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy grants viewers exclusive access to the secretive world of the richest and most powerful brands, including Apple, Amazon and Adidas.

Stunning revelations from insiders and whistleblowers reveal everything from billion-dollar marketing machines to the design ploys and psychological tricks intended to manipulate consumer behavior on a global scale.

With a playful and subversive style, the film takes audiences on a wild ride through the dirty world beneath the gloss and glam, where nothing is quite as it seems—while arming them with life-altering insights to protect themselves from the tricks of the trade.  

This is the story big business doesn’t want you to know.  

Through a playful, eye-catching, and unique approach inspired by pop culture classics like They Live and The Truman Show, Buy Now! explores the destructive consequences of the lies we’ve been sold to fuel an endless drive to spend.

Using epic CGI to give the film a cinematic feel and imagery borrowed from advertising clichés, the film uncovers the hidden toolbox of brand manipulation and reveals the madness of a world profiting from waste at every level. It exposes how many large companies have mastered the art of concealing the damage they cause to our lives and the world around us.  

Chloe Leland, BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and Creative Director of Grain Media said; “Grain is proud to have been able to bring such an original and important story to life. Rather than pointing the finger at, lecturing and guilt-provoking consumers, Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy does the opposite, turning the lens on those selling us all this stuff.

"It was essential that the film be both inspiring and motivating, while also playful, mischievous, and visually striking. We hope that viewers feel empowered and that the film will encourage big brands to take responsibility for their actions and products.”  

Director Nic Stacey said, “To me, it felt like now was the perfect time to make this film. Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy is about power, control, and the relentless drive to make us buy more. I started out thinking of myself as a ‘well-informed consumer,’ but was repeatedly shocked by the interviews with people in high-ranking positions at major companies.

"We found that the system is far more troubling than most people realize. The truth is, there’s a highly sophisticated machine at work, making it incredibly hard for us to make conscious and responsible choices. My hope is that when people watch the film, they realize that we can take back control. While the subject is inherently dark, I wanted to present it in an honest and entertaining way—emphasizing that as consumers, it’s not always our fault. Here’s how we can break the cycle.”  

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About Grain Media 

Grain Media is a leading UK creative production house, making wide-reaching and purpose-driven programming across film and television. Grain has won over 150 international awards spanning multiple genres including two Academy Awards, an Emmy, a BAFTA, a Peabody and a duPont-Columbia Award for outstanding journalism. 

Credits include: Academy Award and BAFTA-winning, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) for A&E Networks; Academy Award-winning The White Helmets for Netflix; Emmy-winning and Academy Award / BAFTA-nominated Virunga for Netflix; Emmy-nominated Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America; Emmy-nominated Lost and Found for National Geographic; BIFA-winning Evelyn for Netflix; Emmy-nominated Convergence: Courage in a Crisis for Netflix, Emmy-nominated India’s Forbidden Love for Al Jazeera English; BIFA-nominated Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth for the BBC; Jackson Hole Film Festival winning From Devil’s Breath for MSNBC; Death in Bollywood for the BBC; and Heart of Invictus for Netflix.