Negative Essay : The Darkness That Is Black Friday

Because Parker is passionate in her articles, she derives a lot of credibility from it. In “Black Friday has Lost its Bang. Hallelujah,” Parker is passionate about the topic of people being less materialistic. It is clear that she is passionate about the topic of people choosing to be thankful and spending time with family than going Black Friday shopping through, because she seems relieved that the tradition is

Andrew Leonard's "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" argues that the Black Friday shopping spree has begun to get out of hand in the previous years. Leonard explains that consumerism is a great thing for America, but showing Americans that it is okay to go crazy when shopping for deals is not the way to approach the buying markets. He mentions a Target advertisement and states that, "The Crazy Target Lady is not a joke. Watch her cannibalize her gingerbread man, or strategize her reverse psychology shopping techniques... she is America. She might be a lunatic, but it's a culturally approved lunacy" (Leonard 166). The author emphasizes how Americans embrace the acts of the target lady as funny and amusing, but during Black Friday shopping, some shoppers will take the night to the extreme like the advertisement does. He does remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by reporting how shoppers are seeing the problems with the night of crazy shopping. I agree with Leonard that there are problems with Black Friday ads, and that consumers are realizing Black Friday shopping is taking away from Thanksgiving.

Black Friday shopping is a controversial issue in the United States; while many believe the day after Thanksgiving is a part of holiday festivities, others view it as destructive. Throughout “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” Andrew Leonard argues that the chaos of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in which crowds of Americans shop all night for extremely low prices, lessens the sophistication of Americans and the true meaning of the holidays. People become so consumed in the idea of endless sale prices that they forget to embrace what they already have, such as family, food, and shelter. He believes that Black Friday shopping has become out of control and describes the negative effects of excessive consumerism. he explains how most consumers act completely insane while Black Friday shopping and how society encourages this behavior by creating commercials and advertisements. Furthermore, Leonard states that it hurts the economy and damages one’s mental health. While Leonard is probably wrong when he claims that Black Friday shopping is completely troublesome to America’s well-being, he is right that consumerism overpowers the true significance of Thanksgiving.

On July 2, 1962 Sam Walton opened the very first Walmart store in Rogers, Ark. Each week, more than 140 million Americans shop at Walmart. The company has over 11,000 stores in 28 countries. In fact, just recently the company opened a new store in my neighborhood. All summer I watched them build and build and I would say to my mom, “I can’t wait for them to finish so we can stop having to go to that ghetto Walmart.” I know “ghetto Walmart?” but it’s the truth. There was one other Walmart in my neighborhood and it was known as the ghetto Walmart. So when I received the essay assignment I knew immediately where I wanted to go. At ghetto Walmart the norms became abnormal and the abnormal things started to be accepted. The Walmart Company knows how to get costumers to come into their stores, I’ll give them that, but something just went wrong with that one.

Black Friday is the following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many workers have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5 A.M. or even earlier. Retailers use Black Friday to kick off the holiday season to use much of their products to go from the red to the black.

Quindlen starts her essay by stating that at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, a worker was trampled to death by a horde of excited shoppers during Black Friday; the day after Thanksgiving when stores hold massive sales for the holiday season (Par. 2). She then goes on to talk about credit card debt and gives various examples of people buying different versions of items they

Norton, Anne. “The Signs of Shopping.” Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular

Historically, the department store affected every facet of social and economic life in America. The rise of the department store from the mid-1850s to the end of the 19th century was a major revolution for business and society. It revolutionized the shopping experience and created an entirely new view of ordinary retail stores. Endless categories of items from jewelry and accessories to home goods and furniture were available to all customers under one roof. Department stores found success in the early years, because they were selling more than just “products.” They were selling an entire experience to the American consumer. Known for their low prices, convenience, experience, and variety, department stores emerged as the iconic establishments of their time. These stores became mainstream institutions in downtown areas. Some department stores, such as Filene’s, even had restaurants and tearooms located inside the building. They had services like photo studios and special events like fashion shows and parades. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is still a widely popular event today, originating in

Black Tuesday will forever be remembered in the history of the American economy. It marked the beginning of the depression with the weakening of the economy, first in the stock market crashing (Goldfield, The American Journey,716). The same economic policies that increased the economy in the 1920’s led to economic disaster with the government failure to produce laws regulating oligopolies, banks, and the stock market (Goldfield,717). President Herbert Hoover’s response to providing federal aid to the United States was seen in the beginning of the depression, when the depression worsened, and towards the end of his presidency.

Black Friday: The black friday scandal was a scandal that started on September 24, 1969. There were a lot of people involved but the two biggest people were Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Jay and Jim both planed on covering the nations gold market, the robber barons wanted to make a mint by driving the gold price into the stratosphere. The two of them built a network of corruption all the way from Wall street and the New York City Government all the way to the family of President Ulysses S. Grant. Jay and Jim wanted to corner the gold market and by doing this they had planed for them two to buy a whole bunch of gold controlling the gold market as the prices go up because they manipulated President Ulysses S. Grant by persuading him to not open the

Thanksgiving traditions don't end on Thanksgiving Day. In the 1950s, the day after Thanksgiving was called Black Friday by factory managers because so many workers called in sick and the Philadelphia Police Department took to calling the day Black Friday to describe the traffic jams, crowds and shoplifters during the start of the holiday shopping season. Black Friday signals the start of the holiday shopping season, but it may be a tradition that's continuing to evolve as stores vie to be the earliest to open Thanksgiving Day.

ok for my last observation i decided to go shopping on black Friday in brentwood. instead of going to my local best buy in Commack i went to brentwood to try and get a xbox one on sale. so i arrived at around 3:40 pm on Thursday to get their before the open at 5:00 pm, when i first arrived i saw a huge line of around forty to fifty people waiting in front of the best buy. and in front of them where metal fences that helped keep the line, and to keep order there where 6 security guards in yellow jackets making sure nothing got out of hand. while i was waiting online i started talking to man about 5’8, looked asian, and had short black hair. the man was wearing a black pea coat and under that a red shirt and a pair of blue jeans. so he initiated

At 4:30 p.m. on December 6, 2010, Meredith Collins, VP of Marketing for Reed Supermarkets, walked down the sidewalk of the 10-store strip mall that housed Reed’s Westgate Plaza branch in Columbus, Ohio. Collins didn’t shop; instead she took mental notes about store traffic, first at the Reed store and then at an indirect but increasingly worrisome kind of competitor—a dollar store. The Reed was predictably well lit and inviting, and Collins could see three registers open and two or three customers in line at each. “Not too bad” she thought, “but not what I would hope for at this time of day, this close to the holidays.” She’d felt the same way at two other Reeds

The purpose of this research is to examine consumer behavior on Black Friday. Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year, and it is all driven by the chance for consumers to save the most amount of money possible while getting their holiday shopping done. Research was done online, and also through personal experiences. By understanding what retailers and consumers hope to accomplish on this day can have a positive impact on everyone. Consumers are able to get what they want with the least amount of turmoil, and retailers are able to turn a profit. This research can be most helpful to merchants, as it will help them to understand what a consumer

The impulse to invest time and energy on products that a person does not really need at the time, solely based on a mesmerizing discounted offer, has become distressing. The tempting offers have grown since consumers have been offered an extended opportunity to shop. Advertisements announce stores will begin to extend their hours to purchase more economical priced products to commence on Thanksgiving Day. Consumers cannot resist the urge to wait in endless lines for a few items displayed for a decreased amount.