I’m dreaming of a Black Friday…

... just like the ones I didn't know
where the people spendin'
and marketers listen
To have great deals in the know

I know, I know, I’m a terrible poet, but I just couldn’t resist myself.

So far, we’ve discussed how festivals and celebrations are a means of brands and companies to make bank, but today, we’re going to examine this holiday that was created for people to intentionally drop all their savings on.

In the US, Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving. It marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It usually occurs on the fourth Friday of November.

The word ‘black’ in Black Friday allegedly was used to depict the massive traffic and streams of people that flooded city streets after Thanksgiving to shop till they dropped. Black Friday informally became the day retail stores announced deals and discounts for the weekend, ending on Cyber Monday.

But why did people rush to shop post Thanksgiving?

Because Christmas is associated with heavy spending, retailers wanted to make the most of this shopping period and possibly extend it. But they didn’t want to begin their promotions before Thanksgiving as it would be considered crass. This changed when the then US President Franklin Roosevelt issued presidential proclamation that stated Thanksgiving be the fourth Thursday in November rather than the last Thursday, in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season.

This is why, post Thanksgiving Day, people would flock to shops to catch the latest deals. Moreover, these stores started opening up early in the morning on this one day to welcome their customers.

Today, shops open up as soon as midnight, and long lines of people camping outside stores is a very common sighting on Black Fridays. This weekend, starting with Black Friday and ending on Cyber Monday is associated with excessive consumerism as people intentionally save up throughout the year to spend and presumably save money on this weekend.

But, are they really scoring a deal?

Suppose you were in the market for a box of tissues. One box costs Rs 20. You enter a supermarket with the intention of buying just one box, since that’s what you need. But in the tissue isle, there’s a flashy sign saying –

“TODAY ONLY! BUY 5 PACKS OF TISSUES GET 3 FREE!”

Sweet! You happily grab 8 boxes, and pay Rs 100 in total. You managed to get eight boxes for the price of five.

But once you reach home, and the feeling of accomplishment wears down, you realise you have eight boxes of tissues in your hands when you went in for one. You aimed to spend Rs 20, but you ended up spending Rs 100 in the fear of missing out on a good deal.

While yes, you did manage to get a discount, but did you really save any money? Or did you spend five times as much with the idea you scored a deal?

This is exactly the kind of trap consumers fall into on Black Friday. The deals seem too good to be true, but people bulk-buy and stock up in the excitement that they are saving money, when in reality, the stores are making them simply buy more and spend more.

People end up buying things they didn’t need, in quantities that’ll turn their houses into warehouses, and empty their savings just to “celebrate” this holiday.

Usually, spending in the name of celebrations is more sneaky than this, but Black Friday owned up to its consumerist roots and is now seen as a day to look forward to by millions of Americans.

And if you think the celebration of Black Friday is limited to the American subcontinent, you’ll be amazed to know that in recent years, many Indian retailers have also been announcing deals and discounts on Black Fridays, even though Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t nationwide celebrations. Flipkart, Amazon and electronics stores are notorious for this.

If you think you learned something new today, hit the like button! If you’ve got any other topics similar to this one, let me know and I’ll look into them. Thanks!