National Backward Day
Approach life in reverse by doing everything the opposite way to usual, from wearing pajamas during the day to having your dessert first.
Leverage the playful, rule-breaking spirit of Backward Day to create viral social content and lighthearted brand moments that encourage user-generated humor and engagement.
- Show your brand doing things backward—reverse your logo, serve dessert-first menus, or flip your usual messaging for a day of playful chaos
- Challenge followers to share their own 'backward' moments with your brand hashtag for UGC and viral potential
- Partner with influencers to create funny skits of everyday tasks done in reverse—from getting dressed to ordering food
- Host a 'Backward Day' flash sale or promotion where prices, discounts, or product reveals happen in unexpected order
National Backward Day has a really long history, far older than the name of the holiday itself. In almost every culture there came a time of year when all the societal rules got turned on their head. Rome had Saturnalia, a day when all social norms were turned on their head.
Gambling was no longer forbidden, and the masters took the day serving their slaves at the high table. During no other time was free speech actually permitted, especially amongst the slaves, but during Saturnalia, all manner of insult was allowed.
There are other cultures throughout the world that celebrate this changing of the guard, this overcoming of mores and exemplifying of wildness. In the end, it all comes down to questioning the way the world is established and the rules that we have in place to govern our behavior. National Backward Day isn’t just a day of silliness, but of mental revolution.
In terms of the Backward Day that is celebrated today, it was founded by Megan Emily Scott and Sarah Nicole Miller back in 1961. One the 29th of January, they were thinking about making arts and crafts while they were busy on the Miller family farm milking the cows. This is when they had an idea for Backwards Day.
Later on in the evening, they sat down together and wrote down some rules. It was not long before the idea got out and reached all of the people in the town. When the two women were walking around two days later, on the 31st of January, they noticed that everyone was doing things backwards. Now that’s some influence!
Do Everything Backwards
Wear your clothes inside out and your underwear as your outerwear, or be a bit more reasonable and slip into your pajamas. Have a nice hot pizza for breakfast, and answer the phone with “Goodbye! Thank you for calling!” When you get to work tell your boss you’re glad he made it in today, and hand him a dollar as a bonus for all his hard work. When lunchtime comes around, have yourself a nice big helping of dessert. Greet everyone throughout the day with a goodbye, and as you walk out the door, say hello to everyone and tell them to have a great day. These are just some of the wonderful doses of insanity you can add to everyone’s day on National Backward Day. That night, when it’s time to go bed, turn off that alarm, get into your work clothes, and crawl into bed. (Ok… Turn the alarm back on. You’ll need that tomorrow) This is a great way to celebrate National Backward Day, and add a little madness to the mundanity of life, and free your mind from the tyranny of ‘normal’.
Share About Backward Day
We would definitely recommend that you document your National Backward Day online if you are a social media user. This can be a fun way to get other people involved and to spread the fun that is associated with this day. A lot of people post funny photos and videos of them doing things in an order or way that they shouldn’t. We are sure that your Instagram feed will be filled with lots of funny clips!
Look at the World Differently
You can also look at National Backward Day from more of a serious perspective. If there is a task that you have been trying to conquer for quite some time and you do not seem to be having much success with it, why not scrap your approach and do things differently? Sometimes it helps if you rip up the rule book and you look at things from a different point of view. If there is one day that you’re going to give this a try, this is the day to do it!