Looking past all the doorbuster low prices, great deals, and consumerism hysteria, there may be something genuinely wrong -and perhaps even frightening- about Black Friday. Black Friday, whatever may be said about its veritable aspirations as a legitimate holiday, deformed into a mass corporate scheme working in ulterior motives operating under the guise of being a “holiday”.

At a first glance, Black Friday seems harmless, even inviting. The prospect of cheap 4k flat-screen TVs and unbelievably priced dishwashers may seem promising, however Black Friday is just a thinly veiled excuse that exploits consumers in a deliberate way to make overspending seem painless. All the bells and whistles -everything from the attention-grabbing advertisements to the endless litany of warranties to the blatant pandering- lull customers into a false sense of security, which is then capitalized on by big corporations. These means are utilized in the hopes of instilling a sense of urgency in the consumer.

And with this sense of urgency comes an incentive for producers to make more product regardless of quality. One example of this would be “derivative products”, products that are made by the same manufacturer that look almost like the standard model, but they are not the same. These derivative products are often times manufactured with inexpensive components and lack the best features of the standard models.

Most importantly, Black Friday is dangerous. Dozens of people are injured yearly by stampedes of crazed crowds, killing each other in the hopes of getting to the product first. Injuries range from bruises to sprained ankles to even concussions. The public safety risk has gone so far, that the government has passed regulations for improved Black Friday safety.