Black Friday always had something of a pitched battle. In the 1950s, Philadelphia police named it that way to describe the chaos on the streets packed with shoppers after Thanksgiving.. Decades later, that postcard is replicated in other latitudes. In Ciudad del Este, the last Black Friday left scenes of people fighting on the floor, pulling for an US$80 computer, among a crowd of more than 300,000 visitors—a record number—and videos that quickly went viral. But beyond the scandal, that scene speaks of something deeper: the desire to belong.
In Argentina, Only 40% of people today perceive themselves as middle class. And that sense of “being middle class” has less to do with income than with the idea of belong: to be able to consume, participate, be included in the same practices as the rest of the world. Therefore, global events like Black Friday are not simply a day of discounts: they are a way to reaffirm collective identity. In a country where access fluctuates and stability is a mirage, consuming is also a symbolic statement: “I can be there too.”
The lines in front of the new Decathlon, the pilgrimages to outlets or the strategies to hunt for promotions are part of that narrative. According to our latest Youniversal Trend Labthe Argentine consumer assumes that to consume in this country you always have to look for it. This forced creativity became a cultural trait: buying is not a passive act but a feat, a display of ingenuity and daily resistance.
The growth of outlets, fairs and “smart shopping” formats confirms that consumption is no longer individual and has become a shared experience. Buying cheap is no longer just about saving: it is showing cunning, belonging to a community that “knows how to do it.” In a crisis context, each discount is a small symbolic victory.
Black Friday, with its mix of euphoria and lack of control, synthesizes that tension between desire and access. Consumers are not only looking for objects, but recognition. A television or a perfume can be the symbolic passport to a global world from which many feel partially outside. Deep down, consumption—even the most chaotic—is not banal: it is a way of saying “I too belong.”
by Ximena Díaz Alarcón
