The Black Friday Cliche

The Origin of “Black Friday” – Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, and in the past, the department stores found that the following Friday tended to be the highest volume sales day leading to Christmas. So, on Friday morning they would offer a limited number of loss leaders – items sold below cost – while quantities lasted to bribe the customers to shop their stores first. People would often camp in the parking lot overnight to be the first into the stores on Friday morning.

The Name “Black Friday” - ?The term ‘”Black Friday” was a humorous way of insinuating that the department stores lost money the first 11 months of the year and finally on the Friday after Thanksgiving they had their first profitable day when their profit and loss statement changed from negative ‘red’ to profitable ‘black’.

Today’s Cliché – Now Black Friday is a season that begins with Pre-Black Friday in October and runs with constant Black Friday deals through the end of December. We now see companies creating “Spring Black Friday”. ?This is how once powerful promotions become boring clichés. Those exciting one day specials of the original Black Friday no longer exist.

Yes, sales increase during Black Friday days in December – because it is Christmas. Yes, sales increase at home centers in the Spring – because of he weather. It is important not to confuse cause and effect!

The Mystery - It is hard to understand why so many retailers allow their marketing departments to fall back on such a tired cliché as Black Friday instead of creating a more Unique, Sustainable, Compelling message that differentiates their brand.

It is even harder to understand why retailers around the world work so hard to educate their customers that there is some intrinsic magic in the American term ‘Black Friday’.