Black Friday corresponds to the last Friday of November. This day is known worldwide, because almost every store or brand gives their biggest discounts. But when did it start?
The Origin
The culture started in the United States. In the country, they have a really important holiday, called Thanksgiving, that happens on the last Thursday of November. After all this excitement, the stores needed something to turn the Thanksgiving page and start the Christmas scenario. The solution was to give huge discounts on products, to almost “obligate” people to spend their money. Little by little, it became a success in the whole territory.
Why “Black Friday”?
As usual, everything that becomes popular in the USA is spread to the whole world. There isn’t a precise number of how many countries embraced this tradition, but all the great powers are in the game. As for the meaning behind its name, its important to note that, at first, all these promotions didn’t have a special name, but then “Black Friday” emerged. There isn’t an official history behind the name, but a few theories.
The most accepted one is that some police officers in Philadelphia hated the day after Thanksgiving, because the streets were very crowded and they had to work double, stopping too many fights due to people wanting the same products, for example. All of this chaos made them start calling this day “Black Friday”, as a synonym of something bad.
Brazilian Black Friday
In Brazil, the stores started to offer Black Friday discounts some good years later, around 2010. In the beginning, people didn’t accept it so well, because some stores were acting poorly and giving fake discounts. They used to raise the price some weeks before, and then, on Black Friday, put it back where it always was. When the population noticed that, the uprising was big. They even created a different name for the day: “Black Fraud”.
This name was chosen because of the similar sonority of the two words and to show their disappointment with the false “offs”. Nowadays, the control works better, and there are a lot of ways to check if a promotion is for real or not, giving back the essence of the day.
Black November?
Black Friday is such a success that some stores and brands felt the necessity to make one day become a whole month. The Black November is getting more and more usual every year, and it tends to continue increasing, due to the acceptance of the public.
__________
The article above was edited by Isadora Mangueira.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Cásper Líbero home page for more!