What Happened to Black Friday?

Growing up, the holiday season always meant family festivities, good food, and for me, a preteen with mostly unrestricted internet access, binge watching Black Friday brawls and chaos on YouTube. Every year when Thanksgiving would roll around I would patiently await the flooding of dozens of videos of grown adults trampling each other at Best Buy, fighting over TVs and kitchen appliances, and my senior year of high school, I got up at 5 in the morning to go shopping at the mega-mall 20 minutes from my house. 

I was 17 years old, adrenaline-filled and pumped to finally mix it up with the masses and become embedded in the uncontrolled chaos that signifies the biggest shopping event of the year. However, I was extremely underwhelmed by the scene that unfolded before me. No fights, no screaming, no tug-of-war with TV boxes—it honestly just seemed like a busy day at the mall.  

So, the question remains: What happened to Black Friday? Where did all the chaotic consumers off from work for Thanksgiving break go? Did they disappear? 

The main reason for the cool-down of Black Friday festivities is that most companies use “Black Friday” as a buzzword now to promote sales in an online setting. Online shopping has provided a convenient alternative to the often-aimless trips to the mall, and many companies have leveraged their success online to take over most of the deals for their Black Friday experience. Now while many people do still go in person on Black Friday, most reasonable people decide to avoid the traffic jams, parking nightmares, and potential cause of injury to relax on their couch and order from the comfort of their laptop.  

Furthermore, most companies extend the period over a few days rather than just a one-day extravaganza. Discounted prices often bring a greater total of sales overall, so it makes more sense financially to spread out the deals over a few days to promote sales. 

Finally, the main reason why Black Friday is nowhere near as big of a deal as it used to be is the fact that the deals, for lack of a better term, suck. Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, 50% off all items would have been the norm for most retail departments, and 25% off would seem like a cheap scam. Nowadays, you will be lucky to find a store with 10% off everything, and some stores simply don’t participate at all. 

Now, I am not insinuating that the pain (literal and figurative) and stress brought onto patrons and retail workers was justified at all by the old deals and overall appeal that Black Friday brought. But as an avid consumer of media, it was incredibly entertaining to watch the chaos unfold, especially from the comfort of my old iPad. This year however, I’ll join millions of Americans with getting a head start on my Christmas shopping by participating on the new landscape of Black Friday, on my computer, avidly scouring the internet for any company willing to give me a deal over 25% off.