Black Friday Ads- Love Them or Hate Them?

Being an avid shopper, I have always been one to look forward to Black Friday. For years it seems like stores have advertised their great deals, yet this year the promotions seemed out of control. Every other commercial on TV was for a sale that a store was having, including establishments ranging from car dealerships to Wal-Mart's. The most startling aspect of the advertising I found though was that they were claiming to be opening their doors for this crazy shopping day starting at 3am on Friday. 3AM! I think that is outrageous.

Even though it seemed like most of the stores that opened at this time were stores that had a wide variety of products, some stores like Toys R Us and Gap were open on Thanksgiving night so people could come shop after having their family time. I guess this is just a sales tactic they use because they think it will better their chances of selling more in a down economy.

As well I have thought to myself about this day- do the retailers really follow through with what they advertise. Most of the ad's have disclaimers that state something like "while supplies last" or "only valid for the first 100 customers", but I am sure they get tons of people who come in that have probably totally disregarded any disclaimers. I really think this day of the year is bombarded with cheap advertising that serves one purpose- to attract customers to stores so that they will buy as much as they can because they think they are getting such a great deal. What I would say to these retailers though is, is the deal that good that I want to wait in long lines, along with being bombarded with those crowds? I think not.