Black Friday's Origins and Its Growing Environmental Impact

The peak of mass consumption is fast approaching, set to materialize during the final week of November 2025. In a strategic bid to maximize their bottom lines, numerous brands are stretching the promotional window, turning what was once a single-day sale into an extended ‘Black Week’ or even month-long marathons of deep discounts. This major consumer event, officially anchored around November 28, 2025, warrants close examination. We must analyze it through the lens of its deep historical origins, the growing environmental toll it exacts, and the complex psychology driving consumer behavior, especially as calls for more sustainable purchasing models gain traction.

The contemporary iteration of Black Friday in 2025 was characterized by highly aggressive marketing tactics. These campaigns often culminated in scenes of intense consumer fervor: massive crowds waiting for stores to unlock their doors at midnight, and electronics stacked high on pallets. This period expertly activates key psychological triggers in shoppers, such as the artificial creation of scarcity and the pervasive Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO. Research originating from the IE Business School in Spain indicates that while these discounts deliver a fleeting sense of satisfaction, they frequently result in unplanned, impulsive purchases and an accumulation of personal debt. Supporting this finding, a survey conducted in the United Kingdom revealed a sobering statistic: 40% of participants later expressed regret over the acquisitions they made during the sales event.

The roots of Black Friday stretch back to the United States, where the term first gained traction in Philadelphia during the 1960s. Local law enforcement officers initially utilized the phrase to describe the sheer chaos resulting from heavy traffic congestion and enormous crowds of shoppers gathering ahead of a significant football game. Subsequently, retailers cleverly rebranded the term. They redefined ‘black’ to symbolize profitability, as this day traditionally marked the point when stores moved out of the red (losses) and into the black (profit), signaling the official kickoff of the Christmas shopping season.

As the internet revolutionized commerce in the 2000s, Black Friday transcended brick-and-mortar locations to become a worldwide phenomenon in e-commerce. This tradition arrived in Russia in the early 2010s, quickly adopting local characteristics, such as extending sales periods to cover an entire week or even a full month. Between 2020 and 2025, Black Friday fully transitioned into the digital age, integrating advanced technologies, including neural networks, to optimize benefits for both the buying public and the selling entities.

The commercial narrative popularized by retailers throughout the 1980s cemented the interpretation that the term referred to the moment in accounting ledgers when figures shifted into the ‘black’—signifying positive financial returns.

Against the backdrop of this massive commercial surge, a critical counter-movement is gaining momentum. The environmental advocacy group Greenpeace has famously labeled Black Friday a ‘black day for the environment,’ citing the substantial increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the wasteful consumption of natural resources. Similarly, the German environmental organization DUH voices comparable concerns. In direct opposition to this culture of hyper-consumption, alternative movements have emerged, such as ‘Buy Nothing Day’ (Kauf-nix-Tag) and ‘Green Friday,’ both advocating for more deliberate and conscious purchasing decisions. Psychological studies further illuminate this dynamic, showing that the pursuit of discounts triggers the brain’s reward system, leading to a dopamine release that reinforces impulsive behavior, particularly when time constraints are imposed.