The History of Black Friday Part 2: FOMO loaded ads vs the Green Friday Crew

As you may recall, last week we tackled the evolution of Black Friday and the consequent apparition of all adjacent shopping holidays, such as Cyber Monday and Black Week. However, Black Friday's extension period is not all that was brought to us by the digital age and the migration toward online shopping platforms. Here's The History of Black Friday Part 2.

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The power of FOMO and next day delivery

Many small changes have led to the increased success rate of this “holiday”, from a sales point of view (and the decrease of your savings account).

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*Sensitivity Disclaimer: protect your wallet from the following content*

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• Advertising in advance: Studies say 50% of Black Friday shoppers start planning their shopping sprees in September or October, and brands take that data very seriously. The most invested brands will even start revealing a few of their offers during these months, sneakily creeping into the corners of your conscience.
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• An overwhelming amount of ads: It's not all posts and stories now. Ads come in all shapes, sizes, and formats. Not only that, but more often than not, for each organic social media post you see on your feed, you have seven sneaky ads making their way in.
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• Emotionally charged FOMO Ctas: In all honesty, hats off to copywriters for working that FOMO (fear of missing out). Ad copies in the digital age are much more than just facts and discount percentages. Nowadays, it’s all about emotional manipulation and irresistible wordplays that make you feel like you absolutely need every product that comes through your feed.
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• Irresistible personalized ads: Do you think it’s a coincidence that the red sweater you placed on your wishlist two weeks ago keeps appearing on your feed? Newsflash: It’s not! Brands and advertisers use magic targeting tools in order to personalize all ads that come your way. Thanks to the data they collect on a regular basis, they can track your interests, hobbies, searched topics, etc., therefore making you pull the checkout button trigger.
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• Cross-platform bombarding: Ah, the good old days of flyers and outdoor advertising. Nowadays, not only are you enticed by ads on all your social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok…), but your inbox is also bombarded with marketing campaigns filled with mind-blowing offers. Let’s face it, there’s no way out.
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• Offers on top of offers, on top of offers: Simple offers don’t cut it anymore. Instead, brands want to make sure they get you, one way or another. On top of that basic 70% Black Friday discount, they will try to entice you with free next-day delivery, extra discount codes, free samples, and magic beans. Are you convinced now?

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It’s not all fun and great discounts

Although most Black Friday deals are indeed tempting and very good savings opportunities, there might be some exceptions to the rule. Many brands take advantage of this time of year to push useless offers and lousy discounts, just for the sake of it. Others will go even further by increasing their prices in the weeks leading to Black Friday (or Black Week), later lowering them to their original value, and presenting that price as a “sale”. I guess what we are trying to say is: Beware of scammers, people!

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The Green Friday Crew against the Discounted World

And while most businesses see Black Friday (and all its shenanigans) as a great opportunity to end their yearly revenue on a positive note, others—not many—vow to stay away from this concept, refusing to provide any sort of discount and even going as far as closing their physical stores in order to avoid the madness.

An example of this great bravery was the well-known chain Dille and Kamille, which actually closed all its stores across the Netherlands, as well as their website, as a sign of protest against Black Friday consumerism.

Some of these brands justify their position with the Green Friday movement, incentivizing people to get outside, focus on important causes, and pushing them toward greener options and solutions, therefore stopping trends such as fast-fashion and consumerism.

In recent years, the Green Friday movement has faced an increase in popularity due to younger generations concerns about the planet and its sustainability (thank you, Greta!).

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Black Friday 2052

Now that we have put the evolution of this sacred holiday into perspective and mesure its pros and cons, we can’t help but wonder: how will Black Friday be in November 2052? Will it even exist? Or will Green Friday take the lead as the next big thing? Only time will tell.

Happy clicking and cart-filling!