For those of you without a TV, radio, or computer, Friday was Black Friday–a day full of myths, traditions, and doorbuster product offerings. There are a number of misconceptions about Black Friday, not the least of which is the origins and meaning of the name itself. Now, historically Black Friday could mean a number of things:
- BLACK FRIDAY on Dec. 6th, 1745, when the news arrived in London that the Pretender had reached Derby.
- BLACK FRIDAY on Sept. 24, 1869 when a group of financial speculators caused financial panic with a failed bid to corner the market on gold.
- Or our own, BLACK FRIDAY Nov. 24, 2006 when riots broke out in our nation<92>s discount retail chains because there weren<92>t enough TMX Elmo dolls.
Now, the day we<92>re talking about <96> the Friday after Thanksgiving <96> is called Black Friday because it is supposedly the day of the year when businesses make enough money to move out of the <93>red<94> and into the <93>black.<94>
Another big misconception? People think it<92>s the biggest shopping day of the year.
Snopes.com tells us that Black Friday is in fact lucky to be among the top five biggest shopping days of the year. The Saturday before Christmas is always busier and so is Christmas Eve (as my father-in-law could attest.)
And thanks to a certain powerhouse search engine<92>s marketing efforts, Black Friday has younger, more aggressive competitor <96> CyberMonday. Google commissioned a study that proposes on this coming Monday a full 25% of online shoppers will log in <96> from work <96> and purchase whatever they couldn<92>t find over the weekend. Hot on the heels of Google<92>s study was another study that claims that CyberMonday is mostly hype. Just another myth designed to lure you into buying on schedule.
Having gotten new tires on my car, eaten breakfast, and bought for about six people on my list at an hour when I<92>m still usually asleep, I can attest first hand to the fact that we do in fact buy when we<92>re told. Going into Black Friday shopping, the question in my mind was <93>Does anyone really get up at 5 AM to go to the mall?<94> The truth is, 5AM was the busiest time of the morning. And having cruised the mall up and down at least a half dozen times (I had to wait for my tires to get changed), I can say with relative certainty that the sales weren<92>t in reality all they were hyped to be. In fact, some stores seemed to be offering the same basic sales as any other day, just dressed up a little.
Some of the holiday sales may have been genuine <93>loss leaders,<94> but most of the gimmicks were pretty goofy. For example:
- One store handed me a tiny snow globe just for showing up. I haven<92>t bought from them in years.
- Another store refused to let me use any of their coupons (everything was <93>excepted<94>) but did unexpectedly hand me a free copy of Miracle on 34th Street.
- The Mall itself unexpectedly gave me two small, magnetic snowman frames.
- One store offered $10 gift cards for the first 200 guests. I arrived at 5:12 AM and two employees told me they had run out of those <93>a while ago.<94> (I guess 11 minutes before.)
Honestly, the only really good deal I found (besides the snowman frames) was the ability to get my tires changed before work (and a gift card that they gave me for buying tires.) In the end, it<92>s the same merchandise you see every day at basically the same prices. It<92>s the event that attracts people <96> the chance to go out at the crack of dawn and compete with one another for the most choice pickings, just like our ancestors intended.
It<92>s the hype machine that brings us to that state. Advertisers are so good at creating artificial need, that parents are willing to beat each other up in toy store aisles to get Cabbage Patch Kids (does anyone remember that craze?).
That<92>s why I humbly put forward my own gift idea list. These gifts might not be the flashiest, or even the most appreciated, but they are good sound gifts that you<92>re likely to find just about anywhere without having to get up at 4:00AM or fight hordes of other shoppers.
THE 2006 NEWCOMER BLOG NOT-HOT CHRISTMAS GIFT LIST
- Socks. I honestly love socks and love receiving them. For some reason, my socks have pitifully long life spans so if I get new socks it means I may enjoy walking around without holes in my socks for weeks, maybe even months.
- Underwear. Who doesn<92>t need underwear? Well, maybe some people don<92>t, but I do.
- A classic book. When was the last time someone waited in line for two hours to buy The Collected Works of Charles Dickens? And for the non-reader, hardbound books are great knick-knacks.
- A fruitcake. I<92>d like to see resurgence in fruitcake consumption. It<92>s one of the finest non-perishable baked goods out there, next to Twinkies.
- A sonnet. You could always just write something. Maybe not a sonnet <96> they<92>re hard. Try a haiku, beat, or tone poem. Maybe a rambling Blog. Whatever you write, you<92>ve got to be able to <93>sell it.<94> Don<92>t just write something last minute because you forgot to buy something and expect that to fly.
- Diamonds. I know this is a departure from the rest of the list. But most of the other gift ideas will get you in trouble with your spouse. The truth is, if you are buying for your wife, you really won<92>t go wrong with diamonds. Even if she doesn<92>t like what you bought, she<92>ll return it for credit and get something she does like. It<92>s kind of a lazy/loaded man<92>s gift idea.
Of course, if you disagree, then get in line. They may have new shipments of Nintendo Wiis in Harrisburg before the holidays.
Click here to check out Justin’s last Blog entry.
Justin is a writer with a background as a theatre guy and a career
as a marketing guy. He moved to State College, PA a little over three
months ago and resides with his lovely wife, many small children, and
big, crazy dog.
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