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Here is an excerpt from the citation provided for an incident in which 2 of the deaths were reported. > The violence erupted on Black Friday, the traditional p

Here is an excerpt from the citation provided for an incident in which 2 of the deaths were reported. > The violence erupted on Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving start of the holiday shopping surge, but authorities indicated the shooting wasn't related to a shopping frenzy. Anyway, 4+63 over a period of 7 years for the entire population, statistically the probability of getting killed/injured is almost 0. Do we even need such analysis?

k3n 13y ago
I think the commentary lies more in the fact that it's even happening, and will likely only get worse if the trends continue. Black Friday is not a real holiday, but we [as in the U.S., mainly] have let marketers create it out of thin air, giving them our attention until they whip us into a feeding frenzy of consumption. Obey. Consume.
- pavanred 13y ago
  The visible trend in the data provided, 2011 was the worst with over 40 injuries and 1 death. While, the preceding and succeeding years have be rather quiet. Besides, marketers creating trends is neither a new phenomenon nor is it localized to the US, for example, marketers in India have popularized a holiday tradition in the past few years, Akshaya Tritiya, where purchasing gold is supposed to be auspicious and brings about good luck. Though it is loosely based on a religious occasion, it isn't a real holiday. Besides, the surprising bit is the prices aren't shot down to boost sales as in Black Friday, instead the prices shoot up as a result of the demand caused by the shopping frenzy.