Black Friday Doorbusters Compilation (video)

What you are about to see is too depressing to describe. It speaks for itself.

Retailers should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen–no, not just allowing it to happen, inciting this kind of frenzy. This is 100% the responsibility of the retailers who advertise “doorbuster” deals and open at 5AM to stir up this crazy behavior in shoppers. Let’s not forget that someone died and eleven people were injured, including a pregnant woman, on Black Friday in 2009.

Yes, the madness continues…

As I sit here at home on this Friday after Thanksgiving thinking about the wonderful day we had here yesterday, I get an email from one of our readers with the subject line, “And the madness continues.”

She sent an article reported by WGN in Chicago. The gist of the article is that more and more stores are opening their doors on Thanksgiving day for shoppers to get ahead of the Black Friday crowds. Worst of all, it’s being dubbed “Gray Thursday.”

In a fantastic piece of passive writing, the article states that Thanksgiving has been dubbed “Gray Thursday.” Who dubbed it Gray Thursday? Some retailers? Who knows? Nick Boyan at WGN sure didn’t seem to feel like it was all that important enough to report it to us.

The reporter in the video actually says, “…so definitely get out here…” Excuse me, but what business do news agencies have recommending where and when to shop?

The madness will not end.

Coming soon: the myths about Black Friday deals.

Black Friday campers

Black Friday "campers"

Tampa Bay Online reports that, last week, there were already people camping out in front of a Best Buy for Black Friday. A Couple, Lorie and Ryan Davenport are planning to “camp out” for more than a week just so they can be the first customers in a Best Buy this Friday. They are being spelled at night by another couple, so they don’t have to be there 24 hours a day. There are a lot of reasons this is ridiculous. Allow me to list a few here:

  • They don’t even know what they are going to buy yet.
  • They just want to be the first. Why? We don’t know!
  • Do they have jobs? I’m not sure. Will they be going to them of they do? No.
  • If they had jobs and went to them instead of camping out I bet that they would earn more money than they are looking to save.
  • How awesome will Thanksgiving in a Best Buy parking lot be?

The most troubling for me is the glorification of consumerism that is happening here and everywhere this time of year. Somehow these people are to be commended for wasting their time just so they can blow their money on a flat screen TV at 5:00 in the morning? The retailers are loving this kind of press! Yeah! Everyone get out there and wait in line to give us a lot of money! We win again.

If you have to ask…

I have been doing twitter searches for “holidays too early” and “Christmas too early” lately and the vast majority of the tweets I’m finding are something to the tune of,

“Is it too early to start putting up holiday decorations?” or,

“Is it too early to start listening to Christmas music??”

My thought is, if you have to ask, then yes, yes it is too early. Just wait until December 1. Isn’t a whole month enough? My guess is, no, it’s not enough for some people.

As a side note, of course, the tweets encouraging us that “It’s never too early to start shopping for the holidays” are people who are selling things.

When exactly is Black Friday?

Man, we are getting mixed messages. I can’t figure out when I’m supposed to shell out cash for the best deals. Someone once told me that Black Friday was the day after Thanksgiving. Yeah, that would make sense, since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, the next day is always a Friday. Oh, and it’s black because retailers make piles of money on that day. We consumers are in the red, that day. Blood Red Friday, for those of us that go out shopping.

But then I get confused. I am getting emails in my inbox nearly every day from some service telling me about “Black Friday” deals. Every day. Today is, wait let me look at the calendar, a Wednesday. Hmmm, I got an email about Black Friday deals today, but it’s Wendesday. What should I do?

I’m excited about this one:

When is Black Friday?

If I had a pet, my pet would be so darn excited about getting some heartworm pills for a christmas present! They love meds! I know, I know, you have to shove it in a treat or coat it with peanut butter, but if you look in their eyes, you can really tell they love meds so much! Mmmmm meds! I can’t think of anything better to give as a gift to my grandfather then some pet medications. I’m getting a case, while the deals are hot, so I can use them as stocking stuffers for all of my friends and family. I’m going to mail a box to my friend in China, too!

But, Petmeds.com, when exactly is Black Friday? I want to know so I can be poised and ready to pounce on these deals as soon as their available. Just let me know, ok?

Thanks.

Bad move, Sears

Sears will be open on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in its 124-year history.

That means that there will be thousands of employees that will need to leave their families and friends, wake up early, and go to WORK. It seems to us that only places that absolutely need to be open should be open on Thanksgiving. We are dismayed by this news. Even though the store will only be open from 7am to noon, that’s still a lot of time to have to work and be away from loved ones.

Thanks to Dan for sending this link to the Chicago Sun-Times article.

Sears gets a 5-bell rating for the annoying factor.

Pre-planning for a Black Friday ATTACK!

Thank you, Phil Villarreal, for getting us all amped up for a Black Friday WAR! I am going to put on some soccer shin-guards; grab my yard-work gloves and put some thumbtacks inside the fingers pointing out; get a punk-rock leather jacket replete with pointy spikes; don a hockey mask; and grab some kind of bludgeoning weapon like a baseball bat or broomstick. Then I’m going to set my alarm for 2:30 AM and race out to the local big-box store or mall and prepare for battle. If I’m not the first person there, I’ll intimidate the other people in line until they relent and give up the first place in line to me, the all-powerful, door-busting, shopping warrior supreme! Of course, between today and the all-hallowed BLACK FRIDAY’s eve I’ll be training at the gym to build up my muscles and sharpen my senses until I am the most feared shopper in the land. I have exactly 18 days, which should be more than enough.

And when the doors open, or should I say, when I BUST the doors down (because that’s what they want, right?) I will have my war plan all ready. I will have internalized the map of the chosen retail location and I will have a priority list of all the superdeals I plan to exercise. I will have a contingency plan just in case some other shopper/warrior is able to get to the flat screen TVs first, while I am busy clearing the shelves of the latest blu-ray releases. That contingency plan will involve some sort of sweep to the legs and a knockout blow with my elbow or something. I will be ready!!

The Consumerist (gotta love the name) posted some advice on their blog about scoping out Black Friday deals early.  Not that I need that kind of advice; I’ve been making my plans for shopping war since last February. But it’s getting me in the mood! Phil says, “…it’s already time to start thinking about which shopping spots you’ll attack the morning after Thanksgiving.” Oh yeah! ATTACK! I’m ready! And there’s nothing that “…makes [me] want to crawl out of bed at 3 a.m. to go wrestle with a crowd of overeager deal-seekers” more than some AWESOME DEALS!