Before you shoot the messenger and say I just designed this image to be funny, you can find it here. Next, you'll think this is an isolated atrocity, but wrong again, there are six pages of this madness, and not a spot of branding on any of them. It's as if every department sent in their request, and it was complied with machine learning. This leads me to believe that more businesses need to look at [EVENTS] like "Black Friday" as a campaign launch and not just catalog vomit.

Black Friday:

• Are you reducing distressed inventory?

• What true exclusives do you have?

• Are you showing the value?

• Are your offers cannibalizing each other? (see graphic above)

• Are you creating a desire for your products, or is this a fire sale?

• Should you be focused on ALL ITEMS or focus on specifics?

• Limited time, legal, loopholes, and open interpretation of your wording – are you covered or creating a disaster?

All of these questions and many more are important to ask yourself. If Chanel made a 50-80% storewide sale, besides attracting my wife and half the women I know, it would diminish the product's perceived exclusivity. It's like saying, "oh, BTW, we raped you on price all year long except for now!" Super deals on specific products/services are that because of the yearlong premium they typically hold.

Also, if you intend to jump into the fray of Black Friday, how do you want to create differentiation from your competitors? Saying Black Friday is like saying "Everything must go" it's going to appeal to few unless you've thought to approach it with a hook to your brand.

For instance, I have a Pool Table Store client. They could say:

"Black Friday Super Sale", or they could create a "9-Balls till our Black Friday Break." One title is noise, while one title creates interest and plays to the audience's knowledge of the product.

Here's a few more to add to the insanity — The stages of Black Friday sales: (all of which are real and can be referenced here)

• "Beat Black Friday Sales"

• "Pre-Black Friday"

• "Black Friday Month"

• "Early Black Friday"

• "Black Friday Sneak Peek"

• "Black Friday Starts Now" (but it's not actually Black Friday)

• "The 12 Days of Black Friday"

• "10-Days of Black Friday"

• "Black Friday Weekend"

• "Black Friday 2020"

• "'Tis the Black Friday Season"

• "2020 Black Friday Bash"

• "The Ultimate Black Friday"

• "Door Buster Black Friday Sale"

• "Black Friday Early Bird Sale"

• "Black Friday Countdown Event"

<insert the actual Black Friday>

Then we're off to the races to contrive yet another round of chaos to press "Cyber Monday."