Every November, my inbox turns into a battleground of discounts.
Sales. Discounts. Flash offers. And almost all of them scream: Black Friday is here.
And we can’t help but ask: Why does this have to be a thing in India?

We don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving. Yet… here we are.

Black Friday was born as a post-Thanksgiving ritual in the U.S., a way to clear stock and kick off Christmas shopping.
It made perfect sense there.

But somewhere between “global trends” and “US influence,” we imported it without context.
Indian brands now scramble every November to match American calendars, as if our own weren’t rich enough or busy enough already.

This isn’t a cultural exchange. It’s consumer copy-pasting.

This is something we’ve been doing for decades - plain old imitation of U.S. consumer culture.

And this imitation has led to something more worrying: reflex shopping.
The kind of shopping where the discount triggers a dopamine rush.
Where the thrill lies not in what you buy, but in how much you think you “saved.”

And brands know this. Black Friday becomes a lever, a psychological trick to push urgency, FOMO, and impulse.

We are sure the brands love the sale, but why call it Black Friday?

Brands probably love calling it Black Friday because it signals big and global.
But when we already have multiple culturally rooted moments for abundance, gifting, and renewal across India…why do we need to borrow urgency from a U.S. holiday we don’t even observe?

And honestly, consumers don’t care about the “why” of the sale.
They respond to the feeling of a deal.
Which is exactly why the naming matters—it shapes behaviour.

Even in the West, people are rethinking it.
Movements like #NoSpendFriday and brands like REI and Patagonia’s campaigns are challenging the culture of endless consumption.
While they’re slowing down, we’re speeding up — chasing a sale that was never meant for us.

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Buy less. But buy with intent.

Black Friday doesn’t need to be an Indian thing.
And if you do want to participate, do it consciously.

Ask yourself:

• Do I actually need this, or is it just the discount talking?
• Is this brand aligned with my values - local, sustainable, ethical?
• Can I support a smaller Indian business instead of a global giant?
• Can I gift something that adds meaning, not clutter?
  
  

It’s not about guilt-tripping consumption, it’s about reclaiming your choice.