On ThisisFINLAND’s Facebook, a twelve-hour livestream shows unedited real-time footage of items moving along the conveyor belt at a supermarket checkout.

Finland celebrates Independence Day on December 6. Every year on December 5, thousands of shoppers visit 24/7 supermarkets to buy last-minute treats and party supplies. On December 5, 2017, with Finland marking its 100th year of independence, we focus on one checkout line at Prisma Kaari, the largest supermarket in Helsinki, livestreaming what people are purchasing without showing the shoppers themselves.

Call it slow TV, or call it curiosity carried to the extreme, or call it by the hashtag #checkout247. There’s something spellbinding about other people’s groceries rolling past on a conveyor belt. The idea was a hit within Finland when it premiered in summer 2017.

This time it’s global.

By ThisisFINLAND staff, November 2017