Black Friday Strategy

You know, despite the fact that I'm still a poor college student, I look forward to Black Friday every single year.  I've become a little more obsessive about my spending habits each year and it's been especially noticeable this year, where I held off on buying certain items I wanted in anticipation for Black Friday.  No, I'm not just talking about things I saw this past week; I've been holding off on purchasing certain items for about two months in anticipation of this day.

What makes Black Friday so special?  Sure, it's that one massive consumer holiday of the year where everything in every store seems to be on sale.  Stores draw us in with their big ads and their fancy commercials to try and keep their employees as busy as possible on that day (oh, there's that whole "making money" thing too).  We consumers walk into stores and make a beeline for that one thing we've been waiting for, sometimes to find it sold out.  Whether we get that particular item or not, we then become susceptible to our impulses, and impulse shopping reigns.  Everyone else is buying stuff, so you might as well get it while you're out, right?

Eh.. hold on a sec.  Today I'm going to present to you my ideas for encountering Black Friday as a smart and considerate shopper.  Hopefully, these ideas will help you to save a little money and to find a little more enjoyment out of the hectic environment that is Black Friday.

1) First and foremost, don't forget about Thanksgiving.  Particularly with all of these stores that are opening on Thanksgiving night, if you have a particular item you're looking to get on Black Friday, your entire Thursday evening might be spent dreaming of that moment when you carry that item out of the store.  Be sure to enjoy the true holiday first, giving thanks for all of the blessings in your life (and trust me, anyone reading this has a lot to be thankful for) and letting all of your worries (like Black Friday) go as you hopefully get to celebrate with loved ones.

2) Use the internet to pre-shop.  One of the great blessings of the information age is that we can use our computers and phones to access information in a few blinks of the eye.  Check out websites like http://blackfriday.com/ to pre-shop a little bit, looking through the ads of your favorite stores to see if there are any particular deals that you're looking for.  This effort is actually pretty critical to avoiding impulse shopping, as having a clear focus while going into a manic shopping day can help to control your impulses and to decrease any "maniacal" purchases.  However, this alone won't cut it, you'll need to do a bit more...

3) Have a backup plan.  Let's say that you're interested in buying a new TV on Black Friday.  You know that if you go to your local Wal-Mart at 10pm on Thanksgiving, you have a shot of getting a great deal on that TV you want.  However, you get there, and the line has already extended around the building, and the likelihood that you get what you're looking for?  Slim.  You've been standing in line for awhile now though, and you might as well look and see what else is there, right?  I think it'd be more efficient if you used some of your pre-shopping time to look up 2-4 options for a particular item you want, whether it be a TV or something else.  Do a little more research into each brand, looking up reviews on Amazon or another site to see what people say.  Make sure that your options all carry the features you want.  If all of your options are gone when you get to the store, evaluate what else might be there in your price range but be VERY careful about purchasing any of those items.  There's a reason they're the ones that are still there.

4) Use the internet to post-shop.  Cyber Monday is starting to become a pretty big day in itself, particularly for sites like Amazon who do a significant chunk of their business online (or in Amazon's case, almost all of it).  If you miss something on Black Friday, be patient, as it could pop up on the store's website on Cyber Monday.  Bear in mind, as well, that online stores like Amazon will have deals on Black Friday, so it's worth taking some time to check out what's available.

5) Have fun!  Black Friday shouldn't be stressful, as if you miss on your item that day, it's certainly not the end of the world.  Find joy in the day that gets people off their butts, working off some of those Thanksgiving calories and looking for great deals, just like you are.  Black Friday has its evils, but part of what it represents is the blessings we get to have in this great nation.  Getting the chance to shop on Black Friday is an opportunity that so few people in the world get to have, and we shouldn't waste this opportunity by letting ourselves get frustrated or stressed.

Enjoy this week, give thanks for all of the blessings in your life, and happy shopping!

Dissecting the Appeal of "Gangnam Style"

How did this happen?  Seriously.  I can't believe that I can sit here at the beginning of November and tell people that a Korean pop song finally made it big in the United States.  I'm so excited for... wait.  Not that song.  It can't be that song.  You've gotta be kidding me.

Dress classy, dance cheesy.

It's November 2nd and nearly 625 million hits later, "Gangnam Style" has integrated itself into American culture.  Spoofs of it pop up everywhere.  It gets mentioned on some talk show almost everyday.  Flash mobs all over the world are recording their exploits with "Gangnam Style", and this country still hasn't had enough.  It doesn't make sense... or does it?

I firmly believe that if someone had shown me this video prior to its explosion in popularity, I could've predicted that it would become viral.  I mean, let's be clear: nobody thought this video would reach this level of virality.  Viralness.  Whatever.  However, American audiences have become fairly predictable, and there are several elements of "Gangnam Style" that fit the bill of exactly what becomes viral here in the States.  Don't get me wrong: "Gangnam Style"s popularity isn't limited to America, but this is where I live and thus, where I can pretend I know what I'm talking about.

So let's get to it: here is my short list of reasons (in order) why "Gangnam Style" appeals to the masses.

1) The dance - This is easily the top reason why this video went viral.  If you have passable music, all that you need is a set of simple-looking dance moves that the audience can replicate.  I'm willing to call PSY "brilliant" for the moves he brought to this video, because he takes something that is relatively simple and makes it look good (and we all think we can do it, but only a few of us can make it look that good).  We don't want something that's just simple; that's what things like the Chicken Dance are for.  "Gangnam Style" is this decade's "Macarena"; simple moves that can still somehow be butchered, but good dancers (like Psy) can make the moves effective.

2) The odd moments in the video - For those of you who either understand the lyrics or have looked up a translation, you know that "Gangnam Style" is actually, in itself, a parody of Korean culture.  Gangnam is the major affluent region of Seoul, and in this song/video, PSY attacks it with humor, not unlike many American songs that take shots at the Hollywood life.  The quirky scenes found in the video actually serve a purpose when you understand the song.  However, for the majority of us who watched this video and had no idea what he was singing about, we couldn't help but giggle at the random things we saw in this video.  We're not wrong or anything; remember, this song is meant to be a parody.  Just don't pretend like you thought those scenes were "legit", which leads to my next point...

3) The basics of the song - It's become very clear in today's U.S. that, for the most part, Americans don't really care what the words are as long as there's a good beat.  That's obviously not true for every song, but "Gangnam Style" certainly falls into that genre.  It has a great dance beat, enhanced by the rhythm of PSY's rapping (which, by the way, half of the appeal of today's rapping seems to be rhythm, given how hard it is to understand what some guys are saying).  It also has 1-3 catchy, memorable lines in it, even for the American audience, that every popular and catchy song requires, e.g. "Hey Macarena!", "Superman!" (Soulja Boy), and "Teach Me How To Dougie" (all three of these are great relative examples for point 1, as well).

4) PSY - PSY has actually been around for some time (according to Wikipedia, he has 6 albums already) and it shows in the way this song and video are constructed.  His overarching philosophy of "dress classy, dance cheesy" comes into play in this video and in his stature itself.  Those elements are actually what make PSY such an appealing character in the music world; he's not the best looking dude or the best singer around, but he knows it and he runs with it.  He deserves a lot of credit for pulling this entire trend off.

That last point brought up an interesting point that I'm not going to dive into too deeply.  Race plays a part in this, whether we admit it or not.  If we supplanted PSY and put in a white dude in his place, keeping all else the same, everyone would be berating said white guy for his racism.  Yes, that's obvious, but think about what that implies about you and your enjoyment of this video (because the song itself wouldn't have been popular; the video enhances it, big time).  What initially bothered me about this video was that of all of the music that has ever come out of Korea, this particular song/video was the initiator of the genre's popularity.  Now, K-Pop was growing in America, but PSY took it to new heights and for that, I appreciate him.  However, many Korean artists have tried to find success in America and failed and many of them, in my opinion, released better songs than "Gangnam Style".  So it took a bunch of Korean people acting goofy and filming strange scenes to a dance beat for Americans to catch on?  If you think I'm implying too much about race here, that's fine; I merely just want you to consider it and how much of a stereotype in your mind may have been built or reinforced by this video.

In the end, I'm fine with this song.  As I said, it's got a catchy beat and a memorable hook, and that's exactly how you sell a song in today's culture.  I commend PSY for the song, the video, the publicity, and everything he did to help the popularity of this song and video explode.  I'm just a little concerned about the reasons why this video is the biggest thing in the United States to come out of Korea.  Food for thought, I hope.

Anyway, that does it for today.  I hope you enjoyed this look into one of today's biggest trends.  And seriously, go try the dance in front of the mirror.  It really is hard to make it look good.