Opinion columns reflect the views of the staff writer.

Most everyone has been engaging in the most expensive time of the year: holiday shopping. In order to help with this occasion, the day after Thanksgiving is a popular day for shoppers known as Black Friday.

But why has this tradition has stayed around so long?

Black Friday for decades has been known for its chaotic essence and the numerous fights. Due to its popularity, it has pretty much become an unofficial national holiday in the United States and is continuing to grow more and more every year.

Black Friday was a term first used by two Wall Street financiers during the 1869 gold market crash. This was after they purchased as much gold as possible in order for it’s value to skyrocket. Since its origin, the history of Black Friday has represented a scam in itself.

This day of spending has led to fights among citizens, such as the infamous 2014 Walmart fight. According to CBS Los Angeles, cops were alerted of two women fighting each other over a single Barbie doll during a Black Friday sale.

This day is no longer just an opportunity to holiday shop on a budget. It’s also to fight others over the best prices, even if it means throwing a punch or two.

A huge part of Black Friday and its effect on the public is how retailers are grabbing people’s attention with sales. Commercials around the holidays are especially festive and Black
Friday ads are typically linked to these holiday traditions.

One aspect of the holiday season that is so admirable is the memories and traditions. Many people have memories linked to different days including Black Friday, which inclines people to go Black Friday shopping year after year. 

Connecting Black Friday ads with the holidays gives it a festive feel, which many people love. Because the holiday season only comes once a year, people will do every tradition they can before the season is over. Retail marketing often uses this holiday effect to grab the attention of people. 

Along with this, a separate holiday has formed known as Cyber Monday, a day where active online shoppers can get deals on items without all the chaos. This day was created in 2005 by the National Retail federation resulting in a spike of online shopping after Thanksgiving, according to Investopia. Because of the spike in online shopping in the last few years, Cyber Monday has almost become more popular than Black Friday.

Year-round, most stores offer an assortment of different deals in order to attract customers. These deals can sometimes cause prices to be drastically lower than the ones on Black Friday. So why does everyone make such a huge deal out of this one specific day? 

The publicity that comes with chaotic Black Friday fights are often shown and blown up on social media. Curiosity often gets the best of people which inclines the public to investigate. In order to bring a little excitement to their day, people will go Black Friday shopping for their entertainment.

Retail stores in the United States are known for doing everything they can to profit off their products as much as they can, regardless of what negative incidents can happen.