All over the world, sales and promotions have started under the slogan “Black Friday”. In the United Arab Emirates, this tradition is supported, but only discounts are timed to “white”, “yellow” and even “colorless” Friday. Anything, but not “black”. I’ll tell you why they ignore the name that is accepted in many countries and do not call Friday black.
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From gold market crash to sell-off
Sales after Thanksgiving began in the 19th century. That is, discounts and promotions were already in effect at that time. Due to the fact that Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, Black Friday does not have a specific date – it differs every year, falling between November 23 and 29.
The name “Black Friday” itself appeared in 1966 and was immediately used only in the USA. Of course, the phrase “Black Friday” could be found earlier, but it was not used in connection with sales. For example, for a long time one historical event was called this way: the collapse of the gold market, which occurred in September 1869. It was on a Friday, and it was not very pleasant. In addition, this term was used to refer to other major crises on Wall Street. And any Friday that fell on the 13th was also called “Black”.
Today, for all of us, “Black Friday” is equal to sales. And of course, they do not last for one day. The tradition of offering discounts and holding promotions from the end of November until the New Year under this motto has long since spread throughout the world. Thanks to marketers and advertisers who began to actively use this term to attract the attention of buyers.
The meaning is the same, but Friday is “white” or of a different color
Sales and discounts have not bypassed the United Arab Emirates. The first “Black Friday”, as Wikipedia says , was held here in 2014. But the paradox is that it was held under the motto of “White Friday”. Since 2018, one local trading platform has launched “Yellow Friday”. Now, in addition, you can find ads that stores invite you to “Green Friday”, “Blue Friday”, Fridays of other colors and even “colorless”. In general, to anything, but not black…
The thing is that Friday is a holy day of the week for Muslims, and the color black is associated with something tragic and sad. Holding sales here with the slogan “Black Friday” is a failed idea in itself, so retail chains began to use other slogans to designate the period of global discounts.
Why didn’t they come up with a single designation? Part of the reason is that Amazon (Souq), the company that held the first discount Friday in the Middle East in 2014, owns the “White Friday” trademark. So other companies had to be creative in choosing colors. That’s how yellow, green, blue and other Fridays appeared. But the essence of them all is the same: big discounts, good promotions, reduced prices. That’s how it is.