World Consumer Rights Day is an annual day for consumers to get together and know they have rights, even in today’s world of multinational corporations. It started in 1983 and has grown ever since. It also aims to promote consumers’ rights and demand that the law and companies protect these rights. Also on this day, campaigns take place to highlight the social injustices that abuse consumers’ rights. These can include unethical marketing, the use of hazardous technologies and production processes, and the sale of harmful products. Previous campaigns have focused on junk food and children, unethical drug promotion, access for all to energy, and corporate control of the food chain.

The website Consumers International.org states World Consumer Rights Day has its origins in the 1960s. Former US President John F. Kennedy created four basic consumer rights: The right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. The website has added another four to these: The right to satisfaction of basic needs, the right to redress, the right to education, and the right to a healthy environment. Kennedy also defined who consumers are: “Consumers, by definition, include us all….They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Yet they are the only important group... whose views are often not heard.” Be heard today.

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