Stalvey 1

David Stalvey
Professor Bolton
ENG 101
27 October 2014
Black Friday: A Mass Shopping Experience That is Not as Extreme as It Seems
Are the annual shopping events of Black Friday as foolish and degrading as critics
perceive them to be? Increasing consumer interest in the economic benefits of Black Friday
shopping has provoked many of the holidays critics to express their opposition of this mass
form of shopping to American citizens. One of these opposing positions to Black Friday is
displayed by Andrew Leonard in the essay Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization, in
which he expresses his disapproval of the emphasis of Black Friday shopping on American
consumers during the Thanksgiving holiday. In his essay, Leonard argues against marketing
tactics that endorse Black Friday shopping, which include notable commercials from Target and
Kohls, and displays his dissatisfaction with the established concept of Black Friday in American
consumerism. Although Leonard reveals his belief that some consumers and employees of major
retailers in the country are offering helpful methods to reduce the potential issues of Black
Friday, he disputes that the events of Black Friday cause American consumers to partake in a
form of insanity (Leonard 133). Although I agree with Leonard that Black Friday shopping
displays the growing public concern with the effects of extensive consumer spending, I disagree
with Leonards idea that Black Friday is an uncontrollable form of consumerism and with
Leonards notion that commercials from major retailers for Black Friday display deteriorated
personal virtues among American consumers.

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Like Leonard, I believe that Black Friday shopping is an extensive and growing form of
consumerism that has produced increasing concerns among some American consumers and
employees of major retailers, which has the ability to affect the efficiency of Black Friday
events. In his essay, Leonard criticizes the views of some Americans who oppose the increasing
prevalence of Black Friday shopping, and he presents a factual observation of these Americans
as they attempt to occupy Black Friday (Leonard 132). Like Leonard, I believe that this
notion to limit Black Friday shopping is unreasonable and has the potential to produce
detrimental effects on the state of the national economy. This movement exhibits illogical
reasoning and fails in its goal to establish an effective counterargument to Black Friday
shopping. Leonards analysis of this irrational movement is an accurate portion of his essay, and
it successfully appeals to the readers sense of trust. In his essay, Leonard also considers
concerns from groups of employees who work for major retailers that are involved in Black
Friday shopping when he describes employees protests to the movement of the start of Black
Friday events to midnight Thanksgiving. Leonards explanation of the petition from Target
employees to Save Thanksgiving (Leonard 134) clearly represents the frustration that
employees of major retailers experience due to the movement of Black Friday sales to earlier
times. The inclusion of a statistic that reveals the number of signatures from Target employees
in the petition, which is about 200,000 signatures, assists in Leonards expression of support for
these part-time employees. I believe that increasing dissatisfaction among workers due to the
popularity and demand of Black Friday shopping has the potential to negatively affect the
productivity and success of major retailers on Black Friday. This inverse relationship between
worker dissatisfaction and increasing demand of Black Friday shopping can be solved by the
movement of the start of Black Friday events back to their prior times, which could pacify the

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distresses of the employees. Leonards acknowledgement of the concerns of consumers and
employees presents a suitable and effective evaluation of the potential effects and outcomes of
Black Friday.
While I agree with Leonard that the events of Black Friday cause senses of apprehension
to be felt among American consumers and employees, I disagree with Leonards view that Black
Friday represents an overwhelming form of consumerism. In his essay, Leonard reinforces his
disapproval of consumers who participate in Black Friday shopping with his uses of words, such
as scary (Leonard 131) and wrong (Leonard 131), in his descriptions of these customers.
Leonard supports his negative interpretations of these consumers in his essay by revealing his
belief of the extent to which some consumers will go in order to obtain discounts on commercial
items. His disapproval of consumers who partake in Black Friday events on the Internet and in
retail stores is exaggerated in his attempts to suggest their lunacy (Leonard 133), producing
unfounded reasoning that restricts the delivery of his argument. Leonards opinion of Black
Friday in his essay is also deducted due to his insinuation that every American consumer is
enthralled with the aspect of Black Friday shopping. Leonard presents this inaccurate
generalization to the reader when he expresses his relief that at least some subsection of the
population of the United States has come to the realization that its time to step back from the
brink (Leonard 133) of participating in Black Friday events. This simplification of American
consumers produces improper reasoning that also disrupts the logical flow of his argument.
After participating in Black Friday events, I understand that not every American consumer who
partakes in Black Friday shopping represents Leonards inaccurate and adverse opinion of these
customers. Although some consumers on Black Friday work to find multiple deals on products,
many customers simply purchase a few discounted items that satisfy their wants and that allow

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them to quickly end their involvement in Black Friday. My participation in a past Black Friday
sale has allowed me to view the behaviors of other customers; many of these consumers did not
exhibit the sense of fetishism (Leonard 132) with material items that Leonard characterizes of
consumers in his essay. Unlike Leonards perception of consumers, most of the customers that I
observed on Black Friday acted in a calm and orderly fashion. Leonards overstated opinion of
Black Friday shoppers presents a generalized and mistaken view of these consumers.
Although I agree with Leonards claim that states that Black Friday shopping can
produce potentially negative effects due to the concerns of some consumers and employees, I do
not believe that marketing strategies for Black Friday shopping, which include commercials for
major retail corporations, signify a decline in the qualities and merits of American consumers. In
his essay, Leonard claims that commercials for Black Friday portray participants in this latenight form of shopping as Pre-programmed automatons (Leonard 135), and he supports this
assumption of these consumers with the actions of the Crazy Target Lady in the commercial
campaign from Target. Leonards continual criticisms of the eccentric acts of the Crazy Target
Lady in the commercials prevent him from presenting a logical analysis of her actions and
dialogue. Despite her overt enthusiasm about the Black Friday sales at Target, the Crazy Target
Lady performs common actions of American culture that Leonard unsubstantially criticizes.
Leonard critiques the Crazy Target Lady for eating a gingerbread man in one of the commercials
and equates this action to cannibalism. This act is typical of many American citizens during the
Christmas season, but it is condemned by Leonard and determined to be the act of a lunatic
(Leonard 133). Unlike Leonard, I trust that the odd behavior of the Crazy Target Lady in
Targets commercial campaign for Black Friday is presented in an attempt to provide humor for
the viewer and encourage us, as the consumers, to remember details about the Black Friday sales

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at Target. Targets utilization of the Crazy Target Lady in their commercials is simply an effort
to provide comical and quirky ways for the details of its Black Friday sales to be remembered by
us and shared to others. This effort to obtain relevance is also examined in the aspects of the
Kohls commercial that is additionally examined in the essay. This commercial strives to present
comical content and cause consumers to remember the advertisement by displaying a parody of
Rebecca Blacks Friday, a memorable song that was relevant at the time of the commercials
publication and that could be recognized by its viewers. Leonards inadequate evaluation of the
Black Friday commercials presents an incorrect interpretation of the characteristics of Black
Friday shoppers.
Leonards perception of Black Friday as a culture-wide psychotic spasm (Leonard 135)
presents a discounted and limited view of the holiday and its participants due to his inclusion of
illogical information and exaggerated descriptions. Despite my agreement with Leonards belief
of the development of growing consumer concerns with Black Friday, I disagree with Leonards
main claim due to my interpretation of Black Friday as an orderly and effective holiday that
allows consumers to participate in shopping events in regulated environments. Black Friday
approaches us next month, which tempts me to want to partake in its upcoming deals and sales.
Will you join me?

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Works Cited
Leonard, Andrew. Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization. The Norton Field Guide
to Writing with Readings and Handbook. 3rd ed. Ed. Marilyn Moller. New York:
Norton, 2013. 131-35. Print.