Please explain "Black Friday" to a limey

[option1soul]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

I'm sorry, what in the world are you talking about?

"Black" is a financial term. When you are "in the black" it means you are making a profit (as opposed to being "in the red"). At one time retailers said "Black Friday" was the first day of the year they showed massive profits.

We use both terms "blackboard" and "chalkboard" because the board is both black and you use chalk on it. How in the world do you derive racist implications from that? We still call them "black raspberries" and "frijoles negro" don't we?

 

[moggett88]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

It's the day Americans trample each other to death buying stuff, and occurs exactly one day after the day that they are thankful for what they have.

It's why it's called Thanksgiving Day, not Thanksgiving Long Weekend.

 

[Jacco]

It's like the running of the bulls in Spain.

Except, it's with shoppers. Lots of sales on all at the same time, so hordes of them herd up outside the doors, and stampeded through once they are unlocked, trampling each other to death.

That is actually the most perfect analogy I have ever seen in relation to Black Friday. Maybe throw some zombies in there for good measure, but otherwise pretty spot on.

OT:

Ever seen that movie "The Purge?" Well it's pretty much that. The one day a year where people can maim and kill each other in the name of American consumerism without consequence.

 

[cerebus23]

Those stampedes typically happen at some major event like cabbage patch dolls....or laser tag, or those creepy gremlin things when they came out, usually it is toy related, parents want x must have kid toy of the moment, big sale comes up usually "black" friday, day when the stores finances start making a profit typically with the influx of holiday spending, people gather en mass and people act like people when they want something their kid been nagging them incessently about for the last few weeks, and some parents are all out jerks to boot.

What bothers me about the xmas shopping season is the fact its gotten earlier and earlier, heck anymore you start to see xmas shopping stuff weeks before thanksgiving.

When i was a child thanksgiving was thanksgiving xmas did not start until the maybe first week in december, back in the day most families did not decorate til the night of.

Commercial interests have pushed the day back, the spirit of xmas and any good about it is is lost amongst buy more stuff.

 

[Veldel]

I'm posting this from work at a Walmart and to be frank


SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS WARZONE!


It the worst 2 days of retail to work as people are crazy and trying to grab everything.

People where fighting over 32inch TVs last night.


When sale started its like the worst of humanity shows.


Stay in doors and hide.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

jesus, you guys keep citing the worst examples possible. while it is pretty bad in some places, that doesn't speak for the majority of places; sure it gets pretty damn busy but it doesn't turn into blood baths like some videos show it to be.


it's a time for retailers to mark down essentially everything so people are willing to spend every dime they've been saving for holiday gifts, thus the increase in purchases drives massive profits, making companies "in the black" economically speaking.


Me personally? I just do online shopping, just as good of deals if not better on amazon/newegg/etc...

cyber monday is basically the equivalent of black friday of retail stores.

But it's kind of hard to focus on the more rational examples when the irrational ones are balls to the wall insane. Sure, in some places, you just have a particularily busy shopping mall, but when people are whipping out pepper spray, it's hard to ignore.

true, but i also believe the "bystander effect" is in place here, if you're in the middle of a crowd and they are all going forward, will you really able to stop and go at your own pace? or stop to help someone who has fallen/been stepped on? hell you probably don't even know that someone did fall for how tight some of those spaces get.

not remotely justifying what happens, just think that people aren't bloody thirsty savages that some people want to believe, it's more of a they can't single handedly do anything about it.

also, the pepper spray thing is definitely people being selfish, they put themselves in that situation, if they are pepper spraying just to get people to give them room then they probably shouldn't be there in the first place.

Sadly I have personally seen the people in motorized wheelchairs/carts use them as battering rams during black friday, disgusts me quite a bit.

 

[hermes]

The meaning of the name originally came from the less than comfortable way shops operate those days. Because of political correctness, people tried to change the name, but the change never stuck. So, they changed the interpretation to being because of "black ink numbers". Typically, it was understood that stores would move from red (deficit) to black (even) in the yearly balance around this time.

 

[EHKOS]

I believe the economic reason for such low prices is so people will buy more for Christmas. (which isn't what the holiday is about in the first place, but glossing over that.)
Unfortunately, the average consumer is so greedy that they drop their mask of concern and care for other human beings and violently seek out things they want at unbelievably low prices. People die every year from being trampled by a crowd. It shows a very ugly side of people.

 

[Torque2100]

Well I'm a Yank, and I can't explain Black Friday because I don't understand it either.

 

[RJ Dalton]

It's just a marketing ploy using the timing of a holiday and deals made feasible by artificial scarcity intended to work the gullible into a murderous, frothy-mouthed shopping frenzy. Best time of year to stay indoors and keep the curtains drawn.

 

[Kennetic]

Since we've already established what Black Friday is, I would like to say that Black Friday is an insult to the meaning of Thanksgiving.

 

[Silvanus]

I only just heard of Black Friday today, reading the free London papers.


Pity I was travelling all day. Might have been fun.


I also think that 'Black Friday' is an unnecessarily ominous name. Haven't numerous horribly violent historical events been termed "Black [weekday]"?

 

[MCerberus]

Black Friday is when you're so sick of being around people you care for that you go out and celebrate vapid commercialism. Often people break the social contract by lying, stealing, and sometimes tasering each-other either for greed or as part of a perceived obligation to corrupt the next holiday.

 

[Dan Steele]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

Spending $300 on a tent to camp outside a store for +12 hours to wait in front of a large glass sliding door where you risk getting stampeded and trampled so you can save $50 on a TV

 

[Draken Steel]

It's the day Americans trample each other to death buying stuff, and occurs exactly one day after the day that they are thankful for what they have.

It's why it's called Thanksgiving Day, not Thanksgiving Long Weekend.

Its funny that thanksgiving sorta determined the exact date of black friday, but is now slowly begin consumed by it (so many stores opening/starting sales on thurs instead of fri).

Rampant consumerism shall always trump your decades long tradition!

Fortunately for me, my hording instincts are now mostly based on digital (steam) videogames instead of physical objects, so no social interaction for me

 

[Barbas]

Don't knock it, Setting yourself on fire is a legitimate Black Friday strategy. Nobody even tries to get in your way while you're on fire.

...And flames do make things go faster.

Spoiler

Hmmmm...idea...

 

[kailus13]

Don't knock it, Setting yourself on fire is a legitimate Black Friday strategy. Nobody even tries to get in your way while you're on fire.

...And flames do make things go faster.

Spoiler

Hmmmm...idea...

You do need a way to put the flames out quickly though. Wouldn't want to burn the stuff you're buying.