Black Friday - US Aadi thallupadi

I recently came across the term black Friday when going through some of the deal websites. I initially thought it was a horror movie. A little research gave some interesting insights. Black friday is the Friday after the thanksgiving week in America and it is the starting of the traditional holiday shopping season. The term originated in Philadelphia in the 60s from the police department who coined this not so affectionate phrase to mark the crowds, traffic jams, general trouble that comes with the start of the shopping season.

By early 1980s the retailers gave a new dimension to the term by giving the new theory that this day signifies that their losses (Generally marked in red ink in the accounting books) turn to profit (Marked in black). The activity starts as early as October when different retailers start announcing the deals.The day itself would be characterized by people staying overnight in malls so that they can pick up the deal items that would be stocked by the retailers. There have been stampedes gunfights on the day over the past years.

Reading up on this info made me think back to Aadi sale that happens in Tamil nadu,India. The aadi season which falls in mid july to mid august is considered to be an inausupicious time during which people do not buy anything new. To offset this a huge discount sale was proposed by the retailers such as pothys to entice customers to buy. It has progressed to such an extent that in the last few years this season is the time when the sales is huge.

You will not be able to enter Tnagar ranganathan street which is the garment hub in Chennai. Huge crowds, jam packed stores, huge traffic hold ups are a common feature of this season. Unlike the web advertising for black friday you can see a lot of hoardings, TV and radio adsfor Aadi.
Both aadi and black Friday have a lot in common.Both of them reflect the resourcefulness of the retailers in drawing customers.