The Black Friday (literally “Black Friday”) falls every year on the day following the feast of Thanksgiving in the United States (the last Thursday of November), and will fall in 2024 Friday 29 November. It’s a day (but actually an entire period) of discounts on many products and services which effectively kicks off the Christmas shopping season. There are at least two hypotheses on the origin of the name: black (black) could refer to the traffic jams in the city of Philadelphia the day after Thanksgiving, or to the fact that merchants’ accounting books went from red (passive) to black (active).
The origins of the term “Black Friday” and the chaos of “Black Friday” in Philadelphia
There is an episode that anticipates the phenomenon of Black Friday dating back to 1924, exactly 100 years ago. After Thanksgiving, in fact, the department store chain Macy’s organized the first parade to kick off the Christmas shopping season; however the name “Black Friday” that we know today had not yet been coined.
One of the most established explanations for the origin of the expression is found in the United States 50s and 60sin particular a Philadelphia. During the day after Thanksgiving, the city became the center of a heavy tourist influx, as people flocked to shops for Christmas shopping and to attend the annual football match between the Navy and the Army, an important and much followed event.
There police of Philadelphia supposedly coined the expression “Black Friday” to describe the chaos and the frenzy who reigned in the city at that time. The streets were clogged, the traffic impossible to manage and the shops crowded beyond belief. The policemen were often called to work double shifts to manage the situation and, for them, that Friday was considered particularly tiring and stressful. As a result, they began to call it “black”, to underline the difficulty of that day, transforming it into a “Black Friday”. This interpretation of “black” as a symbol of disorder and confusion would spread quickly and become common terminology among local authorities and traders.
Because the Black Friday: traders go from red to black in company balance sheets
Another theory about the meaning of “black” relates to accounting practices of traders. In the 1980s, traders would begin to use this term to indicate the transition from “red” (losses) to “black” (profit) accounts. Traditionally, business losses were recorded in red in the accounting records, while i earnings they came marked in black. With the increase in sales that occurred on this special day, many shopkeepers managed to close in profit, or “in the black”, thanks to the influx of customers and the success of discount promotions. This meaning of “Black Friday” as a day of profits for traders would thus be consolidated and became the official explanation adopted and communicated by many chains and commercial brands.
The transformation of “Black Friday” into a global phenomenon
Over the years, the Black Friday it stopped being just an American occasion and has also spread in other countries. In the 1980s the term and concept began to circulate nationwide in the United States, becoming one of the most anticipated moments in shopping. With the advent of e-commerce and globalization, the Black Friday it then conquered a global audience, also expanding to Europe and Italy, where more and more companies offer special discounts and promotions on the occasion of this day.
Today the Black Friday is no longer limited to just Friday: offers often start days, if not weeks, before the event, giving rise to periods of extended discounts, such as the Black Week or the Cyber Mondaydedicated specifically to discounts on technology products. This expansion process has made “Black Friday” a worldwide phenomenon, followed by millions of consumers who wait for this day to make purchases at discounted prices.
Despite its success and popularity, the Black Friday it is not without controversy. On the one hand, the pressure for companies to offer increasingly discounted prices can lead to promoting unsustainable consumption. On the other hand, the emphasis on the “purchasing race” has aroused criticism both from environmental groups, for the damage that excessive consumption can have on the environment, and from consumer associations, which invite us to pay attention to promotions and to make informed purchases, avoiding scams and false discounts.
