A black Friday sign in a shopfront
Posted on by Ricki-Lee Abrams

It’s no secret that we Brits love to hate American culture permeating into our everyday lives.

From lexicons and libations to couture and cuisine, it has become a favoured British pastime to rebuke all things from across the pond – even when we secretly love them.

Black Friday poster outside of The Entertainment in Westfield, London

Black Friday poster outside of The Entertainment in Westfield, London

Perhaps one of the most divisive adoptions by our little island is the dreaded, and simultaneously beloved, annual shopping frenzy we’ve come to know as “Black Friday”.Ominous as it sounds, the term is thought to have originally been used in the context we know today back in around 1956 when police in Philadelphia used it to describe “the crowds and traffic congestion accompanying the start of the Christmas shopping season”.

Today, the tradition has evolved into something far greater. Deals and discounts have become bigger and better as retailers capitalise on the trend as a way of attracting even more custom.

Shops are starting their sales earlier and ending them later to spread out the spending, as with the Amazon sensation “Cyber Monday” attracting customers online to buy long after the infamous Friday.

Black Friday signs hanging in a department store in Westfield, London

Black Friday signs hanging in a department store in Westfield, London

It’s now one of the biggest days of the year for the retail industry. In fact, Brits are predicted to spend almost £4.8 billion on Black Friday deals in 2021.

But all that glitters isn’t buy one get one free. This prediction is a decrease from £6 billion last year, as many shoppers are planning to spend less this year or ignore the phenomena altogether.

Many small shop owners and businesses struggle to keep up with big retail giants like Argos, Curry’s, and John Lewis, especially post-pandemic.

Alternatives to Black Friday are becoming more widely recognised. Events like “Small Business Saturday” and “Giving Tuesday” are gaining popularity across the country.

Small Business Saturday is a “grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in their communities.”

Now in its ninth year here in the UK, the more inclusive annual retail event falls on the first Saturday in December.

Giving Tuesday, established in 2012, is a campaign to “inspire millions of people right across the world to come together on one day to celebrate the charities and communities that mean so much to us all”.

Endorsed by the likes of Sir Ian McKellen, Lady Gaga, and the people’s very own Michelle Obama, Giving Tuesday falls on the Tuesday after Black Friday every year.

Of course, the most likely reason for anyone to despise Black Friday is that we all have PTSD from the collective trauma we experienced back in 2014 when people forgot how to be human for a brief delusional moment.

Police officers were called to shops up and down the country to control crowds of crazy Christmas shoppers. Customers and shop staff alike were injured in the carnage, all in the name of cheap electrical goods, resulting in many supermarkets moving the bulk of their bargains online in subsequent years.

Is it finally time to put Black Friday on the shelf of American things that can no longer sit with us, like Hershey’s Chocolate, Bitcoin, and Madonna?

Let us know. Where will you be spending your money this Chrimbo – Black Friday sales or nah?