Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year in the US because of all the insanely low prices and deals offered by retailers around the country. We’ve all seen some outrageous Black Friday ads over the years, and the creativity put into some of those ads has been pretty impressive. Let’s take a quick look at the history of Black Friday to understand the reason behind all these crazy Black Friday ads.
The event got its name in the early 1960’s when heavy and disruptive traffic started occurring the day after Thanksgiving in Philadelphia. About 20 years later, this day started being referred to as Black Friday because it was the first day that retailers started making massive profits during the holiday season.
Stores started opening their doors earlier than usual, around 6 am, for the first few decades. Then, in the late 2000’s, many stores started opening as early as 4 or 5 am. It wasn’t until 2011 that Target, Kohl’s, and several others started opening their doors at midnight. The very next year, Walmart and several others announced that they would be starting their Black Friday sales at 8 pm Thanksgiving Day! The madness continued in the next few years as other major retailers like JCPenney and Best Buy started opening as early as 5 pm Thanksgiving Day.
Black Friday is notorious for being a very dark time for employers and their employees because shoppers transform into primitive-like beings who will stop at literally nothing to get their hands on those great deals. Since 2006, at least 12 people have actually died from wounds they sustained during Black Friday shopping experiences, and hundreds more have been wounded pretty badly.
If you’re a bystander who finds joy in watching normal people turn into crazed, bloodthirsty consumers, then you’ll definitely get a kick out of these funniest Black Friday ads we’ve seen over the years!
Definitely one of the funniest Black Friday ads to date, this hilarious commercial features a crazy woman getting ready for Black Friday by doing sit-ups in the parking lot, doing bicep curls with Target shopping baskets loaded with random products, comically reading and freaking out over the upcoming sales to hype herself up, running sprints down the store aisles, and more—all while an old-school motivational exercise beat is playing in the background.
This classic Black Friday ad captures the true essence of the stereotypical Black Friday shopper and provides instant laughs for 30 seconds nonstop!
Although this SNL skit is just a parody commercial, it could almost pass for a real Black Friday ad because of how accurately it describes the madness that typically ensues! In this ad, Mega Mart is having a 12-minute sale referred to as a “savings stampede” that starts at 4 am and offers $39 iPads, $71 3D television sets, and more outrageous deals that will have you literally rolling on the ground laughing for a whopping 2 minutes and 30 seconds!
Another fake yet incredibly comical Black Friday ad, this mock Target ad promises that all customers who spend $75 or more will be taking home their very own falcon. The ad even gives some name suggestions that are equally ridiculous!
Obvious Plant, an independent gag retailer (like Spencer’s Gifts), created and posted this fake Black Friday ad at their local Target store to confuse and bewilder hopeful shoppers, which is almost funnier than the ad itself!
This quick 30-second Macy’s commercial is a bit on the silly side, but the sight of several manly guys screaming in high-pitched tones at the sight of Justin Bieber is actually really funny if you watch the whole thing.
Justin encounters several men on his way to the Macy’s Black Friday sale, all of whom fangirl pretty hard when they see him, but Justin thinks they’re just excited about the sale and goes about his business.
Another classic that should go down in commercial history is this GameStop commercial released on Thanksgiving Day in 2017! Santa is playing Fortnite online with some other gamers, and it’s clear that he has no idea what he’s doing. As he tries to catch up to the others, one gamer calls Santa an idiot, and Santa promptly crosses that kid’s name off the “nice” list.
A fake although comically clever ad released to promote the 2018 movie Early Man, this iStone Black Friday ad is pretty well done and is aesthetically pleasing.
Several of these Early Man ads were released to mock the Black Friday products that are always marked way down each year, all of which were equally impressive!
This follow-up Macy’s commercial came the year after the first Justin Bieber Black Friday ad. This time, it addresses the issue that arises whenever Justin does his “wink, nod, and smile” move at customers. Justin then demonstrates this triple-threat move, which is followed by fainting customers and employees!
In this fun and silly spin on 80’s game shows, Melissa McCarthy is the face of Old Navy, which lured in shoppers that year by allowing the first 500 customers in the doors on Black Friday to enter a contest with the chance to win $1 million.
Although the majority of the commercial is carried by content that has nothing to do with Black Friday or Old Navy, the dialogue between the game show host and McCarthy will have your sides splitting!
Another silly yet thoughtfully made fake Black Friday ad for Early Man, this ad pokes fun at the marketing style of men’s body care companies like Old Spice, Axe, and Dove.
Check out this page to see all the Early Man Black Friday ads that were marketed in 2017!
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