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Showing posts from November 30, 2019

What is Black Friday and why it is not worth it if you are a great negotiator.

All last week was hyped up by ‘Black Friday’ Sales. But what is it and why do we have it in Australia and is it worth it? Black Friday originates from the US and is the Friday after Thanksgiving which is the fourth Friday in November. Thanksgiving is a public holiday in the US. In the 1950s people used the Friday as a sick day and went shopping to get a head start in their Christmas shopping. Eventually in the 1960s this day turned into another paid leave day or shall we say into a paid ‘shopping day’. It has become a made-up event to drive consumerism. Many believe the term ‘Black Friday’ is used for profit making; black numbers in the ledger books; but that is not entirely correct. While this is the meaning today it meant something totally different in the 50s and 60s.  According to Bonnie Taylor Blake, a researcher at the University of North California, the term originated in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia police as they saw the day as a terrible day. The city was fil