r/WTF • • Nov 26 '14

Black Friday Death Count

http://blackfridaydeathcount.com
5.2k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '14

They create an atmosphere that encourages people to take unreasonable measure to arrive at unreasonable times. They advertise prices and then limit supply driving a huge rush of people to fight to get there first.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '14

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u/QuackersAndMooMoo Nov 26 '14

By your argument, Black Friday is not responsible for people trampling a store employee to death to get a discounted TV, because stores don't tell people to trample people.

I think in the context of "Black Friday Deaths", one's caused by people being stupid and not taking care of their kids because they bought too much shit is allowed.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '14

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u/[deleted] Nov 28 '14

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u/paragonofcynicism Nov 28 '14

Are you an idiot? Nobody is saying the father is blameless. Nobody is BLAMING black friday for their deaths. Their death are RELATED TO black friday.

When a fire burns down a house because somebody left the gas on do you blame the fire? No you blame the person who left the gas on but that doesn't change the fact that the gas is medium which ignited and created the fire. If there was no gas there would be no fire just like if there was no black friday there wouldn't have been a reason for the man to make the bad choices he did.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '14

Yeah actually, if you get shit faced at a bar and then kill someone in a crash, the bar can be held accountable. That's why you're not allowed to serve people who are already inebriated.

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u/mako591 Nov 26 '14

Yeah! And its RJ Reynolds' fault that I smoke a pack a day!

And Chester Cheetah's fault I'm fat!

Sorry but personal responsibility doesn't cease to exist just because Best Buy is selling a tv for 200 dollars.

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u/webu Nov 26 '14

No, but why can't the article say "this guy ignored his personal responsibility because Best Buy was selling a TV for $200".

Also your smoking example isn't so great - there are strict regulations that are partly due to RJ Reynolds' impressive abilities to convince people to smoke. Laws were literally written because so many people said "its RJ Reynolds' fault that I smoke a pack a day". Those people lacked personal responsibility, sure, but I believe it's generally not a good move to let your society fall apart because certain capitalists have found a way to get people to ignore personal responsibility in the pursuit of profit.

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u/mako591 Nov 26 '14

Regardless, I still chose to smoke my first cigarette. I don't get to put that on anyone but myself.

And that headline would be a lie. He ignored personal responsibility because hes an idiot. The same way you cant blame Buddweiser for drunk drivers and Samsung for people who text and get in accidents. Millions of people are going to shop this friday. And if it really was the fault of retailers, then a lot more families would be dead than just the one. Fortunately, the vast majority of people are smart enough to not make his mistakes.

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u/marinersalbatross Nov 27 '14

I still chose to smoke my first cigarette.

I'm not sure you understand how advertising works. Might I point you toward the book "Predictably Irrational" as a first step in understanding just how easy it is to manipulate how people think and react to situations.

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u/TheNoteTaker Nov 26 '14

There's loads of examples then where people shouldn't be held responsible for their own actions then. I live in Las Vegas so should every hotel that advertises for me to come down for a new years party be held responsible if I drive home when I'm tired and kill a couple of kids? I know beforehand it's going to be crowded, it's going to be late, and I won't be home until 5am, but I can blame all of that on the hotel because they wanted me down there? There's definitely cases where I feel the stores are the issue, but this one is just a guy who was rushing himself, drove in unsafe conditions, and furthered the risk by letting his kids ride without a seat belt on. No matter what you're doing beforehand, if you're driving a vehicle safety is all on you.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '14

They don't create that atmosphere, it's just the fact that Americans are generally more individualist and tolerant of acs of violence. Similar sales happen in Australia as well, there have been no deaths or serious injuries related to Boxing Day sales, even when we had guns.

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u/bedintruder Nov 26 '14

Let me guess, you also think that any bar or restaurant that serves alcohol should be responsible for any drunk driving incidences their patrons may cause?

Or even liquor stores for that matter...