"'Oh my God!' a woman screamed in the only sentence discernible among the high-pitched shrieks. One person commenting on the video wrote: 'The pinnacle of Western Civilization has arrived.'"
While this kind of phenomenon happens every year, I kind of wonder exactly what is it about America and Black Friday. I understand that it is a great boost of consumer confidence for America. But for some reason, I find the stories told every year come to sound like something from a satirical communist newspaper.
21 comments:
My goodness, this madness seems to have gone to far in recent years, but obviously that could be due the recession.
Anyway, after reading the article I do believe that during these Black Friday sales all sanity seems to disappear and it's horrible to think that this is what America is coming to. I dont think that his is acceptable behavior and there is no excuse.
Whether we are in a recession or not Black Friday has been around for at least 15 years and those adults shopping know how to behave in a humane way.
I feel like Black Friday is one of America's silly traditions but nevertheless a tradition that marks America as America and must go on. Bring us together?
I don't know. I just see it as good fun.
I think that the Black Friday madness is overly ridiculous. What deal is worth attacking another person for? This kind of behavior is definitely not consumer rationalism; although a sale is exciting, it doesn't make sense to get thrown in jail for it. Maybe Black Friday is a satire on the lengths Black Friday-shopping- Americans would go through to be able to save a couple hundred dollars, when these people are probably giving up the same couple hundred in productivity to be able to participate in the frenzy.
As someone who has never participated in the rage of Black Friday shopping, I have never personally experienced the madness that takes place on the "biggest day of retail." However, I think most people who are drawn to the allure of Black Friday are not necessarily looking to save much money at all but are rather hopping on the bandwagon of the crowd frenzy. As Crystal said, Black Friday has become more of a tradition and a crowd phenomenon. It's almost a tradition to be rowdy and to camp outside stores the day before - it's the one day in which people are allowed to be their "barbaric" selves and to outwardly demonstrate their greedy desires. In addition, I think that all the media frenzy surrounding the Black Friday violence doesn't necessarily quell or reduce these happenings - rather, I think people begin to accept this behavior as normal conduct for Black Fridays in the future.
Although Black Friday is a tradition in America I don't think that the disorderly conduct that occurs should be condoned. As proud as I am of this country, the foreign countries that have recently derided Americans for their behavior have a valid point. America is still the most powerful nation and we should should act like role models for the rest of the world. The inexcusable behavior that occurs during events like Black Friday support the belief that chivalry is dead, something that I don't want to imagine as true. I truly hope that the conduct being reported by articles like the one Andrew posted can open people's eyes and hopefully prompt them to think twice before knocking over a child for a two dollar waffle maker
People get way too caught up in all the excitement caused by Black Friday. This is a great example of how materialistic our country is, and maybe even how desperate some are just to save a few dollars. The violence is completely unnecessary. It is only one day out of the entire year that this happens, but it still attracts unwanted attention to the crazy, ridiculous behavior in our country.
I definitely agree that the violence and chaos exhibited on Black Friday is ridiculous. People shouldn't be fighting, robbing and trampling over other people just for a good sale.
I also think that the chaos has become part of the tradition of Black Friday. I remember reading a couple years ago that people were trampled to death at Walmart. To see this trend of madness supports Taylor's point about how ridiculously materialistic American society is becoming. Furthermore, this frenzy is fueled by corporations. Many stores decided to open their doors at midnight instead of the 4am or 5am openings seen in past years, forcing workers and shoppers to leave their family early to get in line for sales. It's simply ridiculous how much people will do to save a few bucks.
As a Black Friday shopper myself, I'm ashamed to be a part of this holiday America celebrates. Don't get me wrong I love Black Friday shopping, when else can you get things for 70% off? But, America is a consumer country so what else can you expect?
I think it is ironic that it is legal to set up tents to camp out for Black Friday shopping, yet it is illegal to camp out at UC Davis...
What might have once been a harmless, happy tradition has taken a most dreadful turn. Sadly, the nature of our economy, run on intrinsic greed and selfish desires, when coupled with psychologically irrational mob behavior, sets the stage for violence on Black Friday.
Face it, consumers aren't the only greedy ones out there. Examining the trend of store hours over the past decade reveals that shops are opening earlier and earlier, from 6AM to 4AM to even the day before, simply for the extra competitive edge. Black Friday is becoming Black Thursday, and we have but our greed to blame.
Let's just be thankful no one was trampled by a horde of stampeding shoppers this year.
This chaos mentioned in the article reminded me of Mad Men. For people that are unfamiliar with the TV show, Mad Men is about a New York advertising firm in the 1960s. Once, to get publicity for a meat company, the firm arranged for two actresses to get into a fist fight over a ham in order to get media attention for the company.
My overall point is that perhaps there is so much chaos on Black Friday because companies don't exactly try to prevent it. I don't think that they take measures to encourage violence, but I think that they appreciate the media attention that comes along with it. How many times did they mention Walmart in that article? That, my friends, is branding.
Although I wish I could agree with you all and say,"Black friday is a terrible and silly American tradition," I too participated in the midnight shopping.
Black Friday is wonderful!
There is nothing wrong with occasional splurging if it is 20-50% off! Don't let the occasional pepper-sprayer or belligerent gunman ruin this great, American tradition.
For some people, this is an important day because the holidays are a tough time financially. With toys and games up to 50% off, I can sympathize with parents because they are trying to get the best present for the money they have.
Don't hate it; embrace it.
#iloveyoublackfriday #zhiliwangforpresident
To echo the sentiments of the previous authors, the Black Friday tradition has become a sad commentary on “the pinnacle of Western civilization”, reflecting how far we, as a consumerist culture, have truly fallen…more specifically though, how far that poor old man fell as he was trampled, attempting to protect his grandson from the stampede of crazed shoppers. As Ivan and Meredith honed in on, the big winners of Black Friday are actually the stores and retail chains themselves. There are big branding and advertising opportunities available in and around the holiday season, even more so if one is willing to open midnight, or even Thursday evening. Consequently though, there are enormous incentives on the consumer’s part for a mob mentality, and I think that is definitely the defining cause behind these reports of midnight break-ins and robberies. It seems that for some (looters and burglars), Black Friday represents a get out of jail free card – “hey, everyone is going crazy, the stores are practically giving away their inventories, why not steal?” In this respect, Apple is by far the smartest of the participating big chains – recognizing the growing inelasticity of their products, they opt instead to offer very modest sales on Black Friday, mostly online in fact. This perhaps saves the company the hassle of dealing with property damage and the sale-crazed mobs that other stores must confront this holiday as they opened at midnight.
Yeah, I'd agree with Ivan and Alex about the mob mentality thing. It seems like people are willing to sacrifice their dignity in order to get the prices, and they only do it now because "everyone's doing it," so it's normal. Just like consumerism in general, and the whole idea of "keeping up with the Jones'".
But on the other hang, though I agree these people are making fools of themselves, I don't really think the situation as a whole is too messed up. Maybe I just have lower expectations of humanity or something, but when humans act like swarms of controllable minions (as they do in black friday sales and in other similar situations), it's really easy to get stuff done. What if, instead of condoning black friday madness, we tried to harness it? Like, have slightly raised sales taxes or something to make people... I don't even know. But there's a lot of useful power here in the mob mentality.
Except for people who bring their kids to these things. That's just irresponsible. Like, seriously.
I'm going to have to say that I am all for Black Friday. I usually don't shop during Black Friday but I don't think that it is a bad thing to have.
What I don't agree with is the violence that accompanied it. Most items are probably only a few buck off yet you see people pushing and shoving to get at these "deals." To me this is a sad aspect of humanity. We are willing to sell our dignity for saving a few buck at our local Walmart. That says a lot. It is great to save a few bucks, but to me, Black Friday could just be any other day a store has a sale. Nordstrom for example has a summer sale, and many other stores are always advertising about sales they have all the time. I guess the appeal of Black Friday is that all stores are likely to have deals on goods.
It really all boils down to money (in my opinion). Don't get me wrong, it is a necessary part of our economy so I don't call for its destruction. I will say that the definite side effect of it seems to be the almost reverence that people have for it. That 1.99 that you might have to spend but instead get to keep becomes that much sweeter under this mentality. People assign too much value to a piece of paper that in reality, is only worth what the Federal Reserve says it is worth. It really is just a piece of paper that looks really official. We could just as easily use clay tablets to use as a currency.
Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree. Maybe the violence really does stem from the mob mentality that many other posts have brought up. If that is the case, those potential mob members should use that energy and apply it to something useful, not just for a bargain on towels (or an Xbox).
I would say I agree that atrocious behavior exhibited on black friday is ridiculous and it should not be tolerated. I realize, as Meredith pointed out, that these incidents get huge media attention, but at what cost? I was planning on going out to shop on black friday, but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it was not worth all the trouble. Instead, I slept in and went black friday shopping online. I still got great deals and I avoided the rowdy crowds and everlasting lines. I wish stores would promote their online sales instead of opening their doors earlier causing more chaos. I hope that this year's early openings doesn't turn into a trend and that people realize just how ridiculous it is when they stampede stores.
Ok, ok, it's agreed the madness of Black Friday is mostly economic gain and psychological peer pressure, etc., etc. I think the tangent Brian was going on about was mostly about the power of mob rule in general, how it's satisfying when decisions are made and actions are done. That's about it, right? All I am left wondering about is the police actions. I mean, just the presence of mall security should quiet things a little right? Or at least be able to help in the case of people getting injured? When it comes down to it, the mob is supposed to be responsible for damage. In all practicality, I don't know how to arrest a mob in a store, but I would want the situation resolved.
The way I understand Black Friday, it is supposedly to be a modern tradition to bring a party-vibe to shopping. Actually, when it comes to the "great deals", consumers usually consider the store like a boom-bust town: no one wants to lose or miss out. Materialistic, yes, but not entirely limited to all consumers alike when it comes to directly standing up for what they want. In Andrew's post where he comments: "I find the stories ... sound like something from a satirical communist newspaper", it seems surreal, but we probably should be embarrassed of the violent outcomes of "Black Friday madness". The deepest degree of the competition itself may not be directly related with America, because it could happen anywhere, but we are likely to be bold enough to hold onto it.
I'm all up for the Black Friday sales but if it's going to cause several injuries and deaths, it's not worth it. Shoppers need to realize what's more important- saving a couple bucks or saving their lives. This just comes to show that people are selfish and greedy. I can't believe people would act in such an unruly manner out in public. How embarrassing.
Should the government fear Black Fridays? As the previous comments touched on, mob mentality seems to be dominating this American tradition. It also seems that Black Fridays are becoming more and more violent. Do you think there's a physical point where people might resort to murder for a "good deal", and if so, should our government be concerned that if we don't do something to regulate the madness that eventually intentional dangerous crimes would be committed?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think anyone has the power to stop the Black Friday sales. So regardless of all the violence, this tradition will continue until it naturally dies out, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon given the enthusiasm it draws. and the antics are certainly not going to calm down in the future. Expect that next year, there will be more people who bring pepper spray with them. If competition from fellow customers gets stronger, one must keep up so as to not fall behind.
Anyways, in our current economic situation, who are we to want to limit the busiest shopping day of the year? Who cares about what the Dutch or the Canadians think; if it's helping a struggling economy, why stop.
Oh yeah, the violence. Well that can't really be helped, given the insane discounts (not going to lie, I'd be all over that $2 waffle iron). I think the best we can do is get police to help suppress the madness better. I suggest concentrating most of them at Walmarts and the like. Also, as long as you're not one of those insane people fighting for $1.88 bath towels (personally, I don't think I would be able to restrain myself), you are contributing to the improvement of Black Friday behavior. Maybe it will rub off on others.
And in case you were looking for a more civil day between Thanksgiving and Christmas to go discount shopping, try Cyber Monday online. You're a lot less likely to get peppered sprayed while sitting in front of a computer.
Reading through everyone's comments, I was surprised that no one mentioned any of the other consumerist and Hallmark Holidays!!! What about Valentine's Day? This "annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions," as stated by Wikipedia has turned into second Halloween as far as candy and decorations go. Also, I'm pretty sure that all the bunnies and eggs and candy we associate with Easter don't really have a lot to do with the resurrection of JC.
That being said, I agree with everyone who refused to condemn Black Friday as a disgusting exhibition of consumerism in the gluttonous American society. After all, who doesn't like a little consumerism in their lives.
I like the way Andrew put it in his post--
"But for some reason, I find the stories told every year come to sound like something from a satirical communist newspaper." And while I'm definitely not above indulging in a good Black Friday bargain, I'd have to side with the 'satirical communist newspaper' when it gets to the point of the crazy stories that we've come to expect. Not so much in that I think "this is why free markets are baloney!" as that I'm content to derive amusement from the silliness it's amounted to, seeing as how (like Christian pointed out) it isn't in anyone's power/best interests to stop the sales altogether.
In light of current events, I think the cream of the crop of this year's tales was undoubtedly the pepper spray. As one news source I came across put it, "undoubtedly, the symbolism was lost on many."
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