A savvy shopper, perusing the Black Friday deals at Columbia Sportswear, made a revealing discovery when she moved a display price tag to reveal what was underneath.
The video comes from TikTok user Kayla Salamon (@kaylasalamon), pulling in more than 474,000 views as of Thursday morning for a video that dropped on Monday. In it, she shows a clothing rack at the store boasting, “Black Friday Deals: Now $99.99.”
But she lifts that signage, to reveal the signage it replaced: “Special Value: Now $99.99.”
She chuckles audibly at the revelation and then says, “That’s funny.”
On its website, the store is touting Black Friday deals of up to 40% off select items and 50% off what it’s terming as “doorbusters.” According to the fine print, the Black Friday sale has been going since Nov. 20 and will continue through Dec. 3.
What to watch for on Black Friday
A CNBC article released on Tuesday warns, “This year, the number of people shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday could hit a record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. But that doesn’t mean consumers are getting the lowest prices of the season.”
The article went on to note that, per a WalletHub report, “41% of items at major retailers offer no savings compared with their pre-Black Friday prices.”
The article quoted consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch, who said, “Some Black Friday deals are misleading, as retailers may inflate original prices to make a deal look like a better value.” It went on to note that other potentially deceptive practices, like creating a sense of urgency around the availability of products, aren’t just limited to Black Friday.
Reactions from the people
Commenters made observations about the seven-second video.
“Why I don’t shop on Black Friday,” one cynically assessed.
“And they wonder why people don’t buy as much as they used to/go Black Friday shopping,” echoed a fellow commenter.
Another remarked, “I was literally looking through Walmart’s app yesterday at the deals that are about to start, and saw a video game that was $30 say $30 on Nov. 25.”
Someone claims this isn’t anything new. They stated, “This has been happening and people have just started noticing the last couple years.”
Finally, one commenter observed, “Stores are trying hard.”
@kaylasalamon Advertising at it's finest #blackfriday #shopping #deals ♬ original sound – Kayla Salamon
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Columbia Sportswear via email.
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The post ‘Why I don’t shop on Black Friday’: Columbia Sportswear shopper sees store advertising $99.99 deal. Then she moves the price tag appeared first on The Daily Dot.
