The Guardian Black Friday Liveblog: "Best deals, bargains and the latest news"

[Cardenio I]

G R A V E

07:33
UK supermarket deals
Aldi
Aldi's website has confused me because it currently says "Don't miss Orange Thursday", and now I'm not sure what day of the week it is, or whether I should have been live-blogging yesterday as well. Anyway the deals are here, though maybe you have to time travel to actually purchase them.

Argos
All the Argos Black Friday deals are gathered in one place here - and they are going big on an XBox One S for just £129.99. There's also a great deal on a vacuum cleaner, but, pro-tip, don't buy your significant other a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.

Lidl
Lidl have a page full of offers here - including, at the moment, a Lenovo tablet for £80 and one of those George Foreman grill things which could potentially revolutionise how you serve your Xmas dinner.

Tesco
Nothing particularly on special offer on their website, but in-store they are having a Black Friday clearance sale on clothes. Surely the joy of Black Friday is that you don't have to trudge out into the cold though?

Waitrose
There's a free bottle of champagne when you order wine from the Waitrose Cellar apparently. There's also 20% off their exotic Heston range of Christmas foods. Not in my house though, where I'll be cooking Xmas dinner and it is dried-out Turkey all round.

It's alright though yeah, 'cos our columnists will quote Naomi Klein's "ditch capitalism to save the planet" every now and then.

Please give us a tenner for independent journalism.

[bgmnts]

I hope they have a death count going.

[drummersaredeaf]

Popping into Morrisons in a sec. I'll be sure to enter into the spirit and kick fuck out of anyone that gets between me and a spicy chicken baguette.

[Zetetic]

Are all forms of consumer advocacy tantamount to collaboration with capitalism?

YES or NO

[Cuellar]

I think 'consumer advocacy' is pushing it a bit. It's just pointing people to the 'best' 'bargains'.

[H-O-W-L]

shit in a top hat ONCE 1999.9999 NOW ONLY 899.54012!!

[Cardenio I]

Yeah get to fuck with "consumer advocacy". This is advertising, plain and simple. Black Friday wasn't even a thing 10 years ago until the news invented it.

[Cuellar]

Always sounds like the commemoration of an atrocity.

[Zetetic]

YES or NO

[Icehaven]

Always sounds like the commemoration of an atrocity.

I always thought it was called Black Friday because it was such a horrible experience, fighting through the shopping hordes etc., but yesterday someone told me it's because it's the first day of the year retailers actually go into the black as the serious Christmas spending begins. Which also makes no sense when you think the big stock market crash in 1987 was called Black Monday for the exact opposite reason, so fuck knows. 

[greencalx]

Why is Black Friday even a thing?

Anyway, we kept an eye out on reductions on the present calx jr wants for Christmas... sure enough, the prices all went up two weeks ago. And have come back down again today.

[hamfist]

Bleak Friday more like, eh lads ?

[GMTV]

I feel like the true meaning of Black Friday has been lost

[imitationleather]

Is this the thing that the lads in Holland celebrate?

[Icehaven]

Why is Black Friday even a thing?

The 'Mericans started it as it's the day after Thanksgiving which is still a day off so they all go shopping. Makes no sense in the UK though as we don't have Thanksgiving. Boxing Day was traditionally our 'quick everyone run to the shops after they were shut for one whole day' day. 

[bgmnts]

Boxing Day is "eat leftover chocolate and do massive christmas poos" day. Always will be.

[BlodwynPig]

Soul-less Samuel trudges down to the Haverfordwest Hypermart and splurges 20 quid on an offer for a 3fer CD boxed set Now That's What I Call Music 45-47. Some hours later his body is found in a semi-dry river, shattered CDs strews on the riverbank and his walkman cassette player inserted into his corpse anus.

Black Friday

[JesusAndYourBush]

The 'Mericans started it as it's the day after Thanksgiving which is still a day off so they all go shopping. Makes no sense in the UK though as we don't have Thanksgiving. Boxing Day was traditionally our 'quick everyone run to the shops after they were shut for one whole day' day.

I assume America had already been having it for years but for some reason one year it made the news here... and everybody copied.  And that's why we have it.  Before that our shops still had January sales, late December sales etc, but all at different times.  Now we can laugh at poor people fighting over big tellies just like the Yanks do (which we could anyeway, but now it's all on the same day.)

[Inspector Norse]

I assume America had already been having it for years but for some reason one year it made the news here

Wasn't that reason that somebody died?

[momatt]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/29/carrot-mania-shoppers-in-a-frenzy-over-aldi-plush-toy-kevin

CARROT NEWS UPDATE:
I swear there were unshiftable fucking mountains of these orange wankers last year, nobody gave a toss.
Humans really are bovine herd animals at times.

[Norton Canes]

What?



Oh, sorry.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Wasn't that reason that somebody died?

Yeah that rings a vague bell.  I just remember it being in the news and everyone was surprised at how silly the Yanks were and that it'd never happen here and then (turns on a sixpence) oh dear it's happening here, we're just as silly as they are.

CARROT NEWS UPDATE:
I swear there were unshiftable fucking mountains of these orange wankers last year, nobody gave a toss.
Humans really are bovine herd animals at times.

I noticed that Aldi are selling a plush talking Delboy toy (online only, not in stores), then I Googled it and they've been around for years and there used to be 3 different toys with Rodney and Uncle Albert being the other 2.  I assume they massively overstocked on Dels thinking he'd be more popular and now they're trying to get rid of them.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Aldi are milking it with that carrot story. It's just the giant Kevin plushes they can't keep in stock. I've just been in my local and the place is filled to the rafters with tons of other carrot circus-related tat, plushes and the giant girl carrot ones.

[Blue Jam]

If I had sprogs and they asked me for a Kevin The Carrot plush in 2019 I'd ask why they didn't want an iPad or a drone or a hoverboard... actually no I wouldn't, I'd hand over a few quid at Aldi and then smirk at how easily pleased my stupid well basic offspring were, then spend the savings on cheap Aldi Mother's Ruin.

Saw a few things I liked in Gap last week, a nice warm hoodie and scarf. Saw Gap had 40% off everything today. Went in and got me some b@rgains I had been intending to buy anyway. Job's a good'un... pffft, who am I kidding, with their cheap labour Gap are still the winners here and I am not only a dumb consumer but also an evil one. But a toasty warm one.

[imitationleather]

I GOT A NEW PHONE LADS

[BlodwynPig]

Pemsel Career: 1 quid ono

[touchingcloth]

Black Friday unwanted finger in your anus: Woolworths, £19.97.

[chveik]

bought 2 brexits for the price of one

[imitationleather]

Picked up a bargain on a shovel, a screwdriver, duct tape, rope, bin bags and hacksaw. :D

[finnquark]

'Sir, is Black Friday named after the failure of British trade unions in 1921?'

'Get out and take your work with you. I can't do anything for you.'