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As Peter Cohan wrote this weekend, sadly, some folks were killed over the holiday weekend due to what could be easily argued as Black Friday madness. In the zeal for saving a few dollars on cheaply-made, bargain-basement disposable consumer goods, one man was trampled to death as he opened the doors of a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) store, while two other people were shot to death outside a Toys R Us store. Joy to the world, the materialism has won.

Although I enjoy covering the Black Friday event every year, the industry-made madness has become such an event that actually dumps respect for human beings into the garbage disposal, so that those crazy souls wanting to save 30% on shoes or a flat-screen television can get their fix.

I mean, is this what the holidays have come down to? The New York Times has a decent perspective on this. But, of course, America has always been about materialism and consumerism. Those are the factors that have made the U.S. the reigning economy worldwide. It's a free country for anyone to do as they wish, from billion-dollar companies to consumers with change in their pockets purchasing power. If we're all trained like Pavlov's dogs come the day after Thanksgiving -- credit cards in hand at 5:00am -- then it's no surprise some folks will die for the self-indulging greed of other human beings. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Black Friday consumerism: The lure of the draw not worth it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>black fridayblack friday 2008black friday adsblack friday dealsblack friday salesBlackFridayBlackFriday2008BlackFridayAdsBlackFridayDealsBlackFridaySalesMon, 01 Dec 2008 13:21:00 EST<![CDATA[Wal-Mart cracks down on Black Friday ad leaks]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/wal-mart-cracks-down-on-black-friday-ad-leaks/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/wal-mart-cracks-down-on-black-friday-ad-leaks/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/22/wal-mart-cracks-down-on-black-friday-ad-leaks/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is cracking down this holiday season when it comes to the famous "Black Friday" sales that happens the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is widely considered to be the busiest shopping day of the entire year and it's when many retailers go into the black for the year -- in other words, they become profitable on that day.

In recent years, newspaper ads from Wal-Mart and other large retailers have found there way onto the internet weeks before the ads are supposed to be available, enabling people to find out about these Black Friday sales quite a bit before the retailers want to announce them. Last year alone, I found scanned newspaper ads all over the place on the web, with large collections found at consumer forums like FatWallet.com, bfads.net and GottaDeal.com.

This year may be a bit different as Wal-Mart's legal team takes a more proactive approach. Their message to websites and forums which are considering displaying Wal-Mart's Black Friday ads before Thanksgiving: don't do it. The retailer's legal team is rounding up the usual suspects early this year, telling them that displaying the retailer's ads before their official November 19 release date violates copyright laws (among other things). Will threats curb the amount of Black Friday newspaper ads we'll all see come Thanksgiving? I suspect that it may cut down on their availability, but I doubt it will eradicate them entirely from the internet.

Wal-Mart cracks down on Black Friday ad leaks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Black FridayBlack Friday adsBlackFridayBlackFridayAdsinthenewsWal-Mart Stores, Inc.Wal-martStores,Inc.WMTMon, 22 Oct 2007 12:54:00 EST