MovieChat Forums > Black Friday (2021) Discussion > There's no such day as "Black Friday"

There's no such day as "Black Friday"

posted 3 years ago by SaveTheSeason (348)
15 replies | jump to latest

It's called the DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING. "Black Friday" is merely industry jargon that originated with the American department stores, from the accounting phrase "in the black," or turning a profit. The AFTER-THANKSGIVING SALES (also the proper term) brought in a lot of shoppers because many people had that day off, putting the retailers "in the black." So it basically means "Profit Friday" or "Money Friday," which is not why we have holidays. The holiday season is a time to take a break from the daily grind and enjoy some much-needed time off. It's not a time to shove and trample one another over some shoddy imported junk merchandise.

The media eventually got wind of the term and then it spread to public usage beginning sometime around the mid-1990s. The retailers and the ad agencies now had a new buzzword with which to dupe the general public into believing this was the biggest, must-attend sale of the year. It isn't. It's basically "discounts" on jacked-up prices. There are sales being conducted all throughout the year that offer much better savings than this scam event.

It's a shame this rubbish has crossed the border into Canada, and even to some European countries. It's a cancer and it needs to be stopped.

If you live in the U.S., November 26, 2021 is the DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING. Outside of the U.S. it's just another Friday in November.

[–] Costumer (1821) 3 years ago

You keep posting this. The "Day after Thanksgiving" is not an official name. It is simply descriptive. So is Black Friday. It is simply descriptive. It means the day when most retail stores break into the black for the year. Either term is acceptable. Neither enjoys any official or governmental support. I'm not sure why this offends you so badly.

[–] SaveTheSeason (348) 3 years ago

The "Day After Thanksgiving" may not have been an official name, but it was always referred to as such until around the mid-1990s, when the media got hold of the phrase as I explained above.

I find it offensive that a day set aside for giving thanks and taking some much-needed time off has been turned into a celebration of materialism, greed and crass consumerism. I'm sick of the constant barrage of advertising that used to start the day Halloween ended but is now beginning in October. It's on the radio, TV, in Internet pop-up ads, spam e-mails, you name it. The auto manufacturers use the term for their November "sales events." You can't even watch football or hockey without hearing about it. And I'm not the only one who feels this way.

We have so few holidays left. We need an occasional break from the daily grind and a special time of year to look forward to. Running in constant high gear 24/7/365 isn't healthy.

There have been some encouraging signs. The major retailers have decided to close on Thanksgiving Day this year. They never should have been open on that day in the first place. Maybe we can regain more holidays.

[–] Costumer (1821) 3 years ago

Well, your claim of the mid 1990's is patently false. I have worked retail since 1979. It was always referred to as Black Friday at my store. Advertisements in the paper referred to it as Black Friday.

Before I began working there, TV and radio ads called it Black Friday.

Calling it Black Friday does not take away from the holiday. That holiday is Thanksgiving. It is called Thanksgiving, officially, and I don't know anyone who calls it anything else. Calling the day after Black Friday does not affect the ACTUAL holiday.

I don't disagree with you that stores should not be open on Thanksgiving. For most of my nearly 40 years in retail, my store wasn't. We did start that the last couple of years I was there, but we didn't open until late in the afternoon. Our company felt it was being pushed there since all our competitors were opening.

[–] SaveTheSeason (348) 3 years ago

You were aware of the term because you worked in retail. It has been an insider term for decades.

I remember the 70s and 80s, too. These events were called AFTER-THANKSGIVING SALES:
http://i.blackfridayarchive.com/scans/2008/Sears-2008-1.png
The first time I heard the phrase "Black Friday" was on a news story that was featuring a behind-the-scenes look at how department stores operated during the holiday season. This was sometime during the early 1980s. I remember plenty of radio, TV and print ads for "After-Thanksgiving Sales" up until around the mid-90s when the ad industry discovered they had a new buzzword to play with. At least that's how it was in the region of the country where I lived. It sounds like things were different in the area you worked in.

If a store wants to conduct an After-Thanksgiving Sale, that's fine. We have Presidents Day Sales, Labor Day Sales, and so on. Just don't hype it up like it's some earth-shaking can't-miss event. How many ads have you seen for Thanksgiving compared to the number you've seen for this "Black Friday" rubbish? The emphasis has shifted in the wrong direction.

[–] Costumer (1821) 3 years ago

I wasn't aware that "inside terms" are used in newspaper advertisements. That are broadcast over the radio and TV. That is the antithesis of inside term. That you don't remember is beside the point. Some news story you heard in the 80s isn't very relevant either. News organizations are known for getting things wrong. Black Friday was a common, publicly known term well before the 90s.

And, again, it in no way denigrates the holiday. Those days don't have some particular name. They are NOT the holiday. I'm all for the integrity of holidays. I say Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Easter. If I am speaking to some I know to be Jewish I would say Happy Hanukkah. If I spoke to a Muslim during Ramadan I would inquire as to the proper greeting since I don't know it. But having "protective instincts" on a day that happens to fall some time before or after the holiday is silly unless it actually has a name.

[–] Satan2016 (25525) 3 years ago

> It means the day when most retail stores break into the black for the year.

This is bullshit. Stores that don't break even most of the time go out of business.

[–] Costumer (1821) 3 years ago

I will assume you have never worked retail. Many businesses operate at a loss for some parts of the year. Look at it like the reports that you work until some date (April, May) to pay your taxes. That is the definition. Some businesses may hit the black before Black Friday. Many don't.

In the store I worked at, in the early 80's, we generally moved between ten and twelve million dollars of merchandise each year. Six million of that was between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

My favorite retail job matched your description. We were always below the sales goals until black Friday and Christmas. It wasn't easy work, but you never had to worry about a slow day in that season.

[–] Costumer (1821) 3 years ago

Very true. I loved my work in retail. I wouldn't have devoted forty years to it otherwise. You have to have the proper turn of mind, but that's true of any job.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Destinata, please stop harping. “After Thanksgiving Sale” is not the same as “the day after Thanksgiving.” I respect your passion. I even admire it. The retail business has tried to transform the second-most holy Christian holiday into a paroxysm of greed and Mammonry. This topic is about a movie with the title Black Friday. Those of us posting here are not promulgating the phrase. The filmmakers named it.

Costumer remembers correctly. “Black Friday” was vernacular currency since the 80s.

I know you are a reasonable person. Pick your battles. You are on the verge of undercutting your own mission.

Happy Holidays! As you know, there are 12 days to Christmas, which includes the arrival of the Magi on petite Noel.

[–] SaveTheSeason (348) 3 years ago

It's not just the title. The plot description reads, "A group of toy store employees must protect each other from a horde of parasite infected shoppers." So... I don't think any further explanation is needed as to what this film is going to be about.

We don't need any movies about this scam event. Continual use of this term encourages the conversion of a day of gratitude and rest to one of greed and crass consumerism. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that expose the animalistic behavior occurring in the stores on the day after Thanksgiving. People need to be reminded that this is a weekend with Thanksgiving Day as its basis; it's not about pushing and shoving one another or getting into fistfights over parking spaces.

"Costumer remembers correctly. “Black Friday” was vernacular currency since the 80s."
This must be a regional thing, because I first heard the phrase on a news story in the early 80s, as I described above. The store ads in my area still referred to their events as "After-Thanksgiving Sales." It was around the mid-90s when I began to notice the gradual changeover to that other term.

"You are on the verge of undercutting your own mission."
I am open to any suggestions that would bolster the cause. I'm trying to get this to go viral.

"As you know, there are 12 days to Christmas, which includes the arrival of the Magi on petite Noel."
Yes, it's amazing how many people don't know this. Christmas Day (December 25th) is the First Day of Christmas; the season runs until the night of January 5th or Twelfth Night, which at one time was a major celebration rivaling Christmas Day itself. January 6th was then Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day.

Happy Holidays to you, too!

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 3 years ago

"Black Friday" is merely industry jargon

doesent that mean there IS in fact such a day?

[–] SaveTheSeason (348) 3 years ago

The day following Thanksgiving Day was always referred to simply as the "day after Thanksgiving" until the media got wind of what was originally an insider term and it spread to public usage. I recall the change in designation beginning around the mid-90s but other posters remember hearing it earlier. This might be a regional thing.

Yes, sales have been conducted on the day following Thanksgiving for years, just like there have been Labor Day Sales or Memorial Day Sales. But the emphasis has shifted from a day of expressing gratitude and taking some time off to that of profit, greed and materialism. How many ads have you seen for Thanksgiving, and how many have you seen for "Black Friday?" Even the auto manufacturers use the term for their November "sales events" when it has nothing to do with vehicles.

The holiday season is not a time to shove and trample one another over some shoddy imported junk, or to get into fistfights over parking spaces, or other types of animalistic behavior. There are plenty of YouTube videos that will show the disgraceful and despicable things that occur in the stores during these scam sales.

It's a shame that this rubbish has crossed the border into Canada, and even some European countries now have to put up with it.

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 3 years ago

" and even some European countries now have to put up with it."

indeed we do , it appeared about 5 years ago in the UK . I deal with it by ignoring it

[–] Galilguy (2472) 3 years ago

I'm just glad it's Friday and the weekend is just about here.

I don't mind the sales either, sometimes I find good stuff for a lot off, and these days that's a real help..