As soon as the turkey and pumpkin pie are polished off, the race begins for who can buy the best bargain items during a different sort of holiday – Black Friday.
However, this year Black Friday encroaches into Thanksgiving, prompting a second name — Black Thursday. A Facebook page called Boycott Black Thursday is urging shoppers and stores to wait until at least 1 a.m. Friday before the mad dash for sales begins.
“Black Thursday is taking that family time away for selfishness and consumerism,” junior Laura Shodall said.
In the past few years, stores have started opening earlier to gain the edge on competitors in a bid for the most shoppers. This year, Kmart announced their sales will begin at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, according to a CNN Money report. Other stores opening on Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday shopping include Walmart, Best Buy, Kohl’s and Toys “R” Us.
Last Thanksgiving, the Boycott Black Thursday page had approximately 7,000 likes. In the past few months, it has exploded to more than 108,000 likes. Brian Rich, a marketing coordinator at a credit union, started the page in 2011.
“I felt that, at the symbolic level, it was really offensive to have this big, potentially violent shopping holiday that’s notorious for materialism and consumerism at its worst trampling all over Thanksgiving Day, which, ironically, is about the exact opposite,” Rich said.
“I don’t believe that Black Thursday should exist,” freshman Melissa Lowe said. “Thanksgiving is Thursday and I don’t believe people should have to work and be apart from their families.”
According to accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers’ annual survey of U.S. consumers, 49 percent plan to shop either online or in person on Thanksgiving morning.
“I think it’s ridiculous for any store on any holiday to be open, because it’s a time for people to be with their families,” Laura Shodall said. “It’s about rapid consumerism on a holiday where people are supposed to be thankful.”
Rich said boycotting Black Thursday was not an attack on capitalism, but rather an attempt to truly celebrate Thanksgiving, and not water-down Thanksgiving or Black Friday.
Stores that are waiting until Friday to dish out their Black Friday deals include Nordstrom, T.J. Maxx, Burlington Coat Factory, Barnes & Noble.
The condemnation of Black Thursday is not only about combining commercialism with a holiday, but the thought of employees working during the holiday enrages some Americans, senior Emily Cates said.
“I think it’s sad,” Cates said. “There are so many employees that could use the extra money, but at the same time they don’t get to be with their families on a really special time. It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that year, 2014, I had to work.’”
The Boycott Black Thursday page has made an impact — after leaking RadioShack’s Thanksgiving hours, RadioShack decided to close from noon to 5 p.m. for employees to go home and celebrate Thanksgiving.
“I’ve tried to keep a singular focus, which is big, Black Friday sales, the violent door buster sales where people are getting trampled and everybody has an insane amount of stress,” Rich said. “That’s what we want to keep out of Thanksgiving.”
With over one million shares, A badge that says “Because I believe in family, I pledge to not shop on Thanksgiving” has been circulating on Facebook.
“It’s supposed to be a time for relaxing and time for your family,” Shodall said. “It’s dumb because it shows that people will do anything to save a couple of bucks.”
The sentiment of keeping Thanksgiving and Black Friday separate has gone viral on the Internet, but the true verdict will be this Thursday when shoppers decide whether to stay home or hit the sales bin.
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