1245: Black Friday | Skeptical Sunday

1245: Black Friday | Skeptical Sunday

This transcript is yet untouched by human hands. Please proceed with caution as we sort through what the robots have given us. We appreciate your patience!

Jordan Harbinger: [00:00:00] Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical Sunday co-host, writer, and researcher Jessica Wynn. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, We decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you.

Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker. During the week, we have long form conversations with a variety of amazing folks, from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, and performers. On Sundays, though, it's Skeptical Sunday, where a rotating guest, co-host and I break down a topic you may have never thought about and debunk common misconceptions about that topic, such as the lottery, GMOs, toothpaste, reiki, healing, self-help cults, diet pills, bottled water, and more.

And if you're new to the show or you wanna tell your friends about the show, I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of our favorite episodes on persuasion, negotiation, psychology, disinformation, junk science, crime, and cults and more. That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show.

Just visit [00:01:00] Jordan harbinger.com/start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Today we're talking about Black Friday, that wonderful time of year when Americans express gratitude on Thursday and commit petty violence over flatscreen TVs on Friday. Black Friday is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year.

But is it really a deal? What actually drives us to run for these sales? Are we saving money? Are we just buying the illusion of discounts? Here to sell us the facts Is writer and researcher Jessica Wynn. Hey Jess, are you ready to throw some elbows for a good deal?

Jessica Wynn: Oh my gosh, no. I will stay home. Thanks.

But I am fascinated that Black Friday is our most aggressive holiday and doesn't even involve fireworks or other explosives. And you're right, we do go from being thankful on Thursday to get the hell outta my way. That's my instant pot on Friday. Right?

Jordan Harbinger: It's, it's bizarre, but it's, it's, this is not a real holiday, right?

This is just kind of a made up thing. Come on.

Jessica Wynn: Technically, no, black Friday isn't a federal [00:02:00] holiday. The government doesn't recognize it. The post office stays open and federal workers don't get the day off, but it is considered a retail holiday. The stock market closes early and culturally it's a holy day for

Jordan Harbinger: spending retail holiday.

But what is Black Friday? Yeah, fake. Fake af. What is Black Friday anymore? Is it still people camping outside Best Buy, or is it more like an internet blood bath now?

Jessica Wynn: I mean, honestly, it's both. So Black Friday and Cyber Monday have kind of fused into one long shopping week. Black Friday was for big ticket items like major appliances and electronics, and cyber.

Monday was for clothes, books, and smaller gadgets, but now it's all blended. Retailers offer both in-store and online deals and start discounts before Thanksgiving and keep them going through what is now called Cyber Week. So it's not

Jordan Harbinger: even a day anymore. It's like capitalism month or whatever. But it hasn't, cyber Monday [00:03:00] killed the whole concept of Black Friday.

I just figured that would happen. I mean, who, I don't go to stores unless like kind of have to,

Jessica Wynn: right? But no, cyber Monday did not and will not kill Black Friday. Businesses are just too smart for that. And retailers just adapted. They learn that they can make more money by stretching the hype across platforms in store and online.

So shoppers end up chasing both. This season is what matters.

Jordan Harbinger: The 12 days of consumer debt, I guess

Jessica Wynn: you, you should write that song. Black Friday does need a banger anthem. Mm-hmm. But the, the sales marathon can also be a gamble. Some consumers find that waiting until Cyber Monday can lead to better deals.

If you guess wrong, you would've saved more in person on Friday. There can be a lot of disappointment on Monday, so there's even a name for it. It's called loss aversion, and it's when the pain of missing out on a discount is perceived as greater than the pleasure of [00:04:00] acquiring the item itself. Turns out

Jordan Harbinger: we aren't that thankful for what we have.

I guess. So where did all this start? I remember when Black Friday was all about like the, the Doorbusters. You know, people camp out. You got a tent in the parking lot at Walmart, trampling each other for Cabbage Patch kids and slightly less expensive TVs,

Jessica Wynn: right? I mean, the term Black Friday's interesting.

It actually began with a gold market crash on September 24th, 1869 after two financiers manipulated the price of gold, but it didn't have anything to do with shopping yet. The evidence against these finance guys was literally a blackboard on which they had written their plans. So the term Black Friday was used for the next few decades to refer to any financial scam.

Wait, what?

Jordan Harbinger: So I, that's funny. So instead of a sale, it was actually originally supposed to be a financial scam, which is hilarious. And I, I thought this was because businesses were in the black. I thought it was, that was why they named it that, you know, from the sales, they finally got out of the red [00:05:00] into the black.

'cause it's the last two months of the year, whatever it is.

Jessica Wynn: That's what it turned into, but not how it started. So the term was used again in the 1950s in Philadelphia, where police used it to describe the chaos the day after Thanksgiving, when huge crowds of shoppers and tourists flooded the city for the annual Army, Navy football game.

So from the

Jordan Harbinger: beginning it was about chaos. Perfect branding then actually,

Jessica Wynn: yeah. And the day after Thanksgiving was a burden for Philly police. They had to work overtime to manage the crowds and traffic. It was gridlock, fights, theft, total mayhem, even back then. It still didn't have anything to do with describing profits.

It was used to describe the dark nightmare for the cops. Retailers actually hated the term because they feared it kept people out of stores, and they tried to launch Big Friday for sales marketing, but that didn't, that didnt catch on Friday.

Jordan Harbinger: Okay. Of course, Philadelphia led the charge, though. It's easy to make that city lose its mind, so [00:06:00] it's It's so not surprising they turned Christmas shopping into a contact sport.

Jessica Wynn: I know. I mean, Philly folks are just passionate about everything, I guess. Guess, sure. But by the 1980s retailers adopted the term and gave it a new positive, meaning the day when they made their annual profit moving from the red, meaning losses to the black meaning gains, that's when Black Friday became the brick and mortar shopping phenomenon we know today.

Okay, but

Jordan Harbinger: why do we do this? It seems like the antithesis of what we should want from the holidays.

Jessica Wynn: Well, it's part cultural phenomenon and part biology. Our brains are wired to chase scarcity. So when something seems limited, like only three left, it triggers the same reward circuits as survival instincts.

Those sale ads land where dopamine meets desperation. Ah, okay.

Jordan Harbinger: So Etsy, you know it's funny, Etsy does that. The, I'll put something in my cart and it's like, so there's three left and it's in 22 carts. Just saying. Just [00:07:00] saying,

Jessica Wynn: right? Yeah. 25 people are looking at this. Yeah, this, this crocheted

Jordan Harbinger: Mario cart doily or whatever, and it's like, okay, must be a hot seller.

So a doorbuster sale is like the retail term for fight or flight.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. It's a lot like gambling or scrolling. The same parts of the brain are lit up, throwing sleep deprivation, group frenzy, and the illusion of a once in a lifetime deal and rationality goes out the window. Most people are hungover and running on adrenaline and pumpkin pie.

And for retailers, black Friday is meant to attract large crowds in hopes of ringing in more sales. So all that combined means many Black Friday shoppers aren't functioning at their best, resulting in grumpy moods and bad decisions. We know it's

Jordan Harbinger: insane. We know it's dangerous, and yet every year people do it again.

And I, I'm always like, why? Why are you doing this to yourself?

Jessica Wynn: Because it works. Our brains are reward seeking machines. When we score a good deal, it [00:08:00] releases dopamine. The same chemical involved in gambling or addiction. It feels good and it gets more interesting when you look at the studies showing how men and women respond differently to this frenzy.

Okay.

Jordan Harbinger: Gender bias and shopping Go on.

Jessica Wynn: Well, we could do a whole episode on gender bias and shopping. Yeah. But numerous studies can confirm things like pink tax, where products marketed to women cost more. Women sellers online can charge more because people think they're more trustworthy. And how algorithms and advertising nudge men and women into different stores and sites.

Economists call this statistical discrimination. Huh? So if

Jordan Harbinger: you're running a scam, pretend you're a woman doing the scamming, and maybe I'll absolutely get away with more and be able to charge more. Really, that sounds like a fancy way of saying companies charge women more just for existing. Is that possible?

That's right. Okay.

Jessica Wynn: Absolutely. But the bottom line is everyone wants to feel like they got the best deal, especially [00:09:00] on Black Friday. And these studies show that men and women actually approach the chaos differently. For men, it's about self-control. The more self-control a man has, the less likely he is to be affected by the music, the crowds, the colors, everything designed to make people push, shove cut in line.

Because they're made to feel like they have to buy something. Interesting. Yeah.

Jordan Harbinger: I can sort of uch for that. Like I, I'll be in a store near Christmas and they're blast in Mariah Carey and throwing out the pumpkin spice latte, whatever it is, like fumes into the mall. And I'm like, I'm immune to this. My wallet shall not open.

I'm just here for the festivities. And it's like, why am I here? But yeah, I don't know. It doesn't, it doesn't work on me and I am proud of that. Okay, so it's not the same for women, I take it.

Jessica Wynn: Well, don't shoot the messenger here, but for women, self-control doesn't really matter. Warm up

Jordan Harbinger: those emails folks.

Yeah. All right. Not getting, yeah, continue. You better explain yourself. I think, [00:10:00]

Jessica Wynn: uh, this is based on studies, everyone, science. So what?

Jordan Harbinger: No. Arguing

Jessica Wynn: science. What matters is social awareness to women, what researchers call public self-consciousness, meaning how much you care about how other people see you.

They find that women who are more self-conscious are more likely to lose it when in a retail setting, if they can't get exactly what they want. So the ones

Jordan Harbinger: who care the most about appearances are the first to go viral. Karen, okay? Mm-hmm. Interesting. All right.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, because it's not about the behavior at the store, it's about, you know, keeping up with the Joneses.

They want the right color and they don't want to wait in line. Marketing website designs and in-store environments are aimed differently at men and women. The likes, the playlists, the people in the ads are catered toward emotions for women shoppers because they are found to be influenced by storytelling.

While catering toward deal [00:11:00] bragging for men so they feel they got the best price of their wit. Interesting.

Jordan Harbinger: It's men fighting impulses in women worrying about image. And this all leads to outrageous battles like men, smart women, emotional man. This explains a lot of Reddit videos though, right? These crazy Black Friday ones especially,

Jessica Wynn: and the shopping environment fuels it both online and in person.

Corporations are very aware of shoppers' mentality, so retailers design these sales to create scarcity and urgency. All meant to trigger that adrenaline fueled response. Emotional shoppers are really good for sales. I can't

Jordan Harbinger: remember where this was. It was a, there's a, a bar that I used to go to, I think in Michigan, and I just, this is always stuck in my head.

Uh, sorry. New York actually. And there's a sign on the jukebox that's always there that around this time of year, and it says, no, Mariah Carey between, it's like December 27 and November 28 or something like that. So basically like from the day after [00:12:00] Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas, you can play Mariah Carey and you're not allowed to do that beforehand.

And I remember asking what happens if somebody plays it because you obviously don't need the sign. If you can just remove it from the jukebox. And he's like, I will. He said, me or the other bartender will stop what we're doing. We will walk out from the bar and we will rip the plug out of the wall. And that's it.

When people start going like Boo, it's like, no, Mariah Fairy. Like they just wait till people complain and then they plug it back in, which of course like resets it. So if you had money in there, like tough. So everyone hates the person. I respect that so much. I know. I was like, that's amazing. But also, wow, you guys really, you know, maybe have a drink, bartender.

Maybe that's, maybe you should relax a little.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. I mean, music's, it's powerful and it can set the mood, it can build anticipation. It can even make people spend more. I mean, those playlists are curated very, very particularly to make us happy to be in the store. I [00:13:00] don't know about you, but there's a few times I've teared up at a commercial for a product I have no interest in.

Like it got me. Mm-hmm. You

Jordan Harbinger: know,

Jessica Wynn: but when shoppers have an emotional reaction, good or bad, they're actually more likely to misbehave. Yeah.

Jordan Harbinger: No, you're right. You like tear up and you're like, I need this Sonicare. And you're like, wait, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? This is great advertising. Um, misbehave.

Okay. Like steal a pair of slippers or what?

Jessica Wynn: Not quite, but consumer misbehavior is the broad term for all the chaos on Black Friday and the unethical and disruptive ways people act while shopping. The stuff that violates social norms, like ripping a doll out of a child's hands or pushing an old lady down to get a product first.

Cutting in line. Things that can harm businesses. Other customers and turn shopping into this moral free trial. So basically

Jordan Harbinger: we need Shoppers Anonymous meetings like, Hey, I'm Jordan. I shoved a granny down for a [00:14:00] discounted air fryer. Hi Jordan. Hi Jordan. I can never relate to these people. I'm just like, order the thing online.

Calm down. You were gonna save $12.

Jessica Wynn: I know. I mean, seriously, something happens to people on Black Friday in 2011, on Black Friday, just after midnight, a 61-year-old man collapsed at a target as the doors opened. People literally stepped over him during those first critical lifesaving minutes. Eventually an off-duty nurse and paramedic tried to help, but it was too late.

He died in the frenzy of a cell rush. Well, he should have

Jordan Harbinger: had a heart attack at home. No, that's awful. That's right. That is terrible. So this is, is this bystander effect? Is that what Right. Everyone assumes somebody else is gonna help, but nobody does. Even when the emergency is over like a laboo doll or, what's that?

The, there's like a glass bear at Starbucks. You know anything about this?

Jessica Wynn: Uh, yeah, I just saw that this week. What is going on? People are brawling in Starbucks over Honey bear [00:15:00] thing. I don't understand. I'll never understand. Why do you, I'll never understand.

Jordan Harbinger: People who don't care about most things will be like, but they engrave your name on it while you wait.

And you're like, and, and it's just like you, they're like sweating. They need it. It's crazy how you can induce this kind of want in people.

Jessica Wynn: Those people should not try hard drugs. Good, good. Because that's what it's, that's what it's doing. Like you think this glass

Jordan Harbinger: bear is amazing. You should try cocaine.

You'll really like that.

Jessica Wynn: You'll, you'll love it. But I mean, retailers know exactly how to create that mayhem. They make it feel like it's every shopper for himself. This is war. And those doorbusters, like the only two left signs, they're just bait to get you inside. Once you're there, they hope you'll buy other high margin stuff.

You

Jordan Harbinger: sure you saved a hundred bucks on a tv? Now buy a $90 HDMI cable that was 38 cents to manufacture. It's a sneaky strategy

Jessica Wynn: and the crossed out original price. The crowds social media, so many things are [00:16:00] engineered to make you think the deal is life or death. Like even the presence of other shoppers can drive you insane.

And it's just proof of what influences people's decisions. Those store layouts are intentionally confusing to keep you wandering and buying. You know

Jordan Harbinger: that Pavlov would be mesmerized, first of all, but this reminds me of ikea. You ever go to Ikea and, and you're like, I just want like a bookshelf. And

Jessica Wynn: it's like the one place that gives me anxiety.

It's up. I feel trapped. You are trapped. It's set up

Jordan Harbinger: like it's high stakes. Your reward is meatballs. When you get out of this rat maze, you go in and you're like, I need a lamp and a bookshelf. And then suddenly you're like, Ooh, I do need like fluorescent wire lighting that I can wrap around the bottom edge of my bed frame.

Oh, look at this. A new shower door. A bunk bed. Salt and pepper shakers. Yes. Shaped like airplanes or whatever it is. So my friend hates Ikea. I mean, I don't like going there just 'cause of that maze and the fact that it's a madhouse. But my friend really, really, really hates Ikea. [00:17:00] Lemme rephrase this. We are not that close.

This person is a little crazy, but he sent me a, this is awful. I shouldn't even don't, I hate giving people ideas. Okay, so it, what he did it spill. It was, you know how IKEA has bathroom set up where it's like a shower or a toilet and then there's another layout. So what she Oh yeah. Did is he took, he printed out a piece of paper that had like fake IKEA letterhead on it, right.

Just color logo. And then he wrote, this bathroom is functional. What? Be respectful of other shoppers, but give it a try when you get a chance and see how this fits in with your existing decor or whatever. Something along those lines. So basically, and he put it like next to the toilet. So you know damn well somebody was like, wow, this bathroom's functional.

Well there's no one else here. I'm just gonna urinate in this thing. And it's like, this bathroom was not functional after all.

Jessica Wynn: I

Jordan Harbinger: love that so much. Mean. Yeah, it's horrifyingly disgusting and you know, you know, someone tried it. Someone sat there and did that. [00:18:00] Oh for sure. But, uh, great prank.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, that, that's my kind of prank for sure.

And that could lead to, I would imagine some disagreements on the floor of Ikea and Black Friday. Violence stories are endless. You know, the worst story I came across is from 2008 at a Walmart on Long Island. 2000 people were waiting outside glass doors shattered as they stormed in. And a 34-year-old employee was trampled to death.

Oh, Jesus.

Jordan Harbinger: I mean, for what? A discounted microwave. This is such a shame.

Jessica Wynn: I know. I don't think it was microwaves, but 2008 was the year of hot items like the Nintendo, we Xbox 360 and PlayStation three. And when the Walmart on Long Island tried to close because someone had died, shoppers complained they didn't want to lose the deals over one measly device.

Yeah. Did anyone ask

Jordan Harbinger: for his employee discount? Yeah. What?

Jessica Wynn: They're not gonna,

Jordan Harbinger: they're not gonna get more dead and I need Legos. So the Hunger Games, but [00:19:00] substitute Jeff Bezos is President Snow. Basically,

Jessica Wynn: that's not wrong. That same year at a Toys Us in California, two couples argued while shopping for a toy, it escalated to such an extreme that the men each pulled out guns and shot each other to death.

Jordan Harbinger: Geez, no wonder Jeffrey went out of business. Peace on Earth. Goodwill tot men. Aw. Unless it's the last Tickle Me, Elmo doll, then y'all better stay strapped. That's crazy to me.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, I mean, that's being human. Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad seed to ruin the experience for everyone. People see someone cut in line or grab the last item, and suddenly everyone's adrenaline spikes, fairness disappears.

Mob mentality takes over. In 2012 at a Sears in San Antonio, Texas, on Thanksgiving night, a shopper cut in line, a guy in line behind him, punched him in the face. The cutter pulled out a gun and then took off. The [00:20:00] police caught up with him, but he was released because he had a concealed handgun permit. And then Sears gave him a store voucher for his next visit.

And amazingly shopping just resumed as normal 10 minutes after the incident.

Jordan Harbinger: Wow, okay. I guess a lot of it plays off parents wanting to make perfect memories, but like, here's the memory of grandpa going to prison because he pulled out a Glock on somebody after they punched him in the face because grandpa cut in line.

'cause he really needed to get you that. I don't know, what is it? My daughter has these like unicorn dolls that they don't hatch from eggs, but they come in eggs and they're scented, which is just disgusting. Um, when Yeah, it's like endocrine disrupting fake fragrances. And I'm just like, can we throw this away immediately?

And you know, she loves them.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, I think in my day my little ponies were like that gross. Yes. So they smelled too. So gross. Well, they had

Jordan Harbinger: scented ones and it's like just some chemicals smeared across the ass of this plastic pony that already smells like plastic. Geez.

Jessica Wynn: It makes me feel bad for any time.

I was ungrateful for a [00:21:00] gift when I was little. 'cause who knows what my parents went through to get it. I know. Have you ever gone over the top for something like above and beyond for a gift for your wife or kids?

Jordan Harbinger: Look, uh, this is gonna sound privileged, but I don't care. 'cause I'm telling you the truth. I don't do the lines, man.

My trick is simple. I just overpay online. Yes, someone is probably scalping my Xbox thing or whatever, but if that idiot wants to camp outside, target all night and then use his inside man to get one of these things, I can just pay 20% more and have it shipped to my door. It's worth it. That's actually how I got, not the original Xbox, I have this slightly different shaped, more powerful one.

I can't remember what it's called. Maybe it's Xbox One or something like that. And it was like, it's not available anywhere. It's outta stock everywhere. And I was just like, let me look online and find one. And the guy was like, here you go, but I'm charging 50 extra dollars. And I was like, I don't care. I can't find one unless I wait in line for it every weekend where they release it and I'm not doing that.

He gave it to me in person and he was a nice guy and he is like, [00:22:00] yeah, I just kinda make money this way 'cause my brother works at Target or something. Like GameStop, whatever it was, I was like, yeah, fair. I don't care. I'm paying the premium. For you. Having gone through the trouble to source these like fine finder's fee of whatever percent, 10%, I don't care.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. I mean you're outsourcing chaos. Yes. Pretty much. You're, you're efficient. Maybe a little unheard, but very unheated.

Jordan Harbinger: Correct. I am not a hero. I am a man who values sleep and peace and I don't want to get maced because I'm trying to get an Xbox. I just don't care that much.

Jessica Wynn: I wanna be on your gift list.

You are. Hey, I got you those blue blockers. Oh that's right. That's right. Uh, but I want you to fight for a gift for me. Red flag.

Jordan Harbinger: Red flag. For anyone who's thinking of dating Jess, she wants you to fight for her for gifts. Now God knows what she's gonna do. And personally, one of many, yes. One of many red flags,

Jessica Wynn: one of many.

But for those who can't afford to overpay. The stories of sale shopping, desperation. They just go on and on. In 2011, a woman pepper sprayed every [00:23:00] shopper around her to score an Xbox that was 20% off. There you

Jordan Harbinger: go. See, I Maybe that's what you got. Happy holidays. I brought the mace. Wonder how much her legal fee.

See, this is the thing. You may everyone, you got this thing what? How much of your legal fees, your bail money? I mean, what a moron. You'll be lucky if they only cancel your Costco subscription, which is worse than going to jail in most people's opinion,

Jessica Wynn: right? I mean, there's something about savings and sales that cancels out logical thinking for some people.

I cannot believe how many stories there are of police finding kids alone in cars, in parking lots on Black Friday, while their parents rush in to shop for discounts. Yes. You know, it's all kinds of things.

Jordan Harbinger: We talked about that lady who pepper sprayed a crowd for 20% off an Xbox. Don't do that. Just stay home, keep your dignity.

Support our sponsors. It costs a lot less than bail. We'll be right back.

This episode is sponsored in part by Uncommon [00:24:00] Goods. The countdown is on holiday shopping season is officially here. If you're like me, you've got a list full of people who are impossible to shop for. That's why I love Uncommon Goods. They take the stress outta gifting with thousands of unique, high quality fines you won't see anywhere else.

Uncommon Goods has everything from handmade jewelry to personalized keepsakes to clever stuff that just makes you laugh. I found a really funny Pickleball ornament. It's a little pickle playing pickleball that I got from my brother-in-law who's obsessed with the game and for his girlfriend, pickleball paddle earrings.

Yes, the perfect mix of thoughtful, and you know, where the heck did you find this? Everything at Uncommon Goods is super high quality, often handmade, crafted by independent artists and small businesses. So every gift actually means something, and when you shop there, you're not just buying a product, you're supporting creativity and craftsmanship.

Plus, they give back with every purchase. Uncommon Goods donates a buck to a nonprofit of your choice. They've already donated over $3 million.

Jen Harbinger: So don't wait. Cross those names off your list before the rush. To get 15 percent off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com/jordan. That's [00:25:00] uncommongoods.com/jordan for 15 percent off. Uncommon Goods, we're all out of the ordinary.

Jordan Harbinger: This is also sponsored by Uplift. I spend a lot of time at my desk, man, researching, prepping interviews, recording, responding to your emails. You name it. And when you're sitting all day, you really start to feel it. My back, my energy, my focus all takes a hit. That's why I use the all new Uplift V three standing desk.

You can sit, stand, stretch, just move throughout the day without losing momentum. The new Uplift V three combines the best of their previous designs into one smarter, stronger setup. It's got redesigned steel reinforcements for extra stability. It assembles in just a few minutes, and the built-in cable management system keeps everything tidy, which is huge.

If you record video or podcasts like id, you don't have wires all over the freaking place. What I love most is actually how customizable this is. You can pick from a ton of desktop styles and accessories. Mine's got a walnut top, it's got under desks, drawers. I got a headphone stand. It's sleek. Stable, makes my workspace actually feel inspiring, which when you work from home is kind of everything.

Jen Harbinger: Transform your workspace and unlock your full potential with the all new Uplift V three standing [00:26:00] desk. Go to upliftdesk.com/harbinger and use code Harbinger to get four free accessories free, same day shipping, free returns, and a 15 year warranty that covers your entire desk, plus an extra discount off your order.

That's  upliftdesk.com/harbinger for this exclusive offer.

Jordan Harbinger: Don't forget about our newsletter, Wee Bit Wiser. It's almost every Wednesday. It is a two minute read, very practical, something you can apply right away that will affect your psychology decision making. It's a gem from a past episode.

From us to you. Jordanharbinger.com/news is where you can find it. Now, back to Skeptical Sunday. Look, the true meaning of Christmas is childhood trauma. We already know this,

Jessica Wynn: I guess. I guess the psychology behind it is incredible. The adrenaline, the crowd mentality, the fomo. It's the perfect storm of human weakness and honestly, marketing genius stores literally engineer the [00:27:00] panic limited stock one day.

Only those online popups that say, you know, seven bought in the last 20 minutes, all of that triggers what's called perceived scarcity, and it makes people act irrationally, even when the product isn't actually rare. I see.

Jordan Harbinger: And I imagine that starts before people even get to the store because driving on Black Friday is always a nightmare.

Jessica Wynn: Oh yeah. Incidents of road rage and fender benders skyrocket every Black Friday as people race to these perceived bargains. I couldn't find official statistics, but I'd bet a lot of phones and laptops don't survive Black Friday either. After pure rage clicking and swiping still doesn't land the deal.

Mm-hmm. Everyone's sleep deprived. Maybe hungover and just annoyed at others in traffic in when they're parking the crowds. It's intense and pissed if something

Jordan Harbinger: is outta stock. Right. And they end up overpaying on eBay for dumb toys.

Jessica Wynn: Oh yeah. I mean, I've been there. I dated a guy with kids and went to [00:28:00] lengths online to score a hatchimal for his daughter when every store was sold out.

I'm not proud of how much I overpaid, but when she opened the Impossible to get toy, I mean that little kid's face was priceless, you know, thinking about it. I mean, she still better have that. Yeah. I mean, she's

Jordan Harbinger: probably in college by now, but I, I have to, that I have no idea what a hatch ole even is.

Jessica Wynn: Oh, they were these stuffed animals that came inside an oversized egg, and you'd put them on the shelf and then they hatched.

I mean, they had minimal tech and they were just impossible to get in 2014, it was like the cabbage patch kid mania of the eighties all over again. Yeah, I guess

Jordan Harbinger: a lot of it comes down to parents wanting to make perfect memories just at any cost, and meanwhile, we're forgetting about the retail workers who have to survive this madness.

Jessica Wynn: Oh, absolutely. It's not just shoppers behaving badly to each other. Employees are treated disrespectfully and retailers see spikes in shoplifting, property destruction, all kinds of consumer [00:29:00] misbehavior. There are countless stories of otherwise good citizens caught shoplifting. Just because the lines were too long or they wanted to get to another sale, usually not because they couldn't afford the items.

It's really

Jordan Harbinger: unbelievable and people, you know, they're calling it the holiday spirit, I suppose, but Yeah. Right. Yikes.

Jessica Wynn: Oh, people get spirited. Mm-hmm. And it's not just security guards that have to be on high alert. The employees at retailers are often working in nightmare conditions. Yeah. It's easy

Jordan Harbinger: to forget that people have to work through this nonsense.

Jessica Wynn: Right. And for most retail workers, black Friday is not a holiday. It's a stress test. More than 4 million Americans work in retail earning about, uh, 16 bucks an hour. On average, fewer than 5% are unionized, which means when stores extend their hours or double their crowds, workers just have

Jordan Harbinger: to keep up. Not a great deal for them.

Are they paid more for Black Friday? I mean, it's, I guess if it's not a real holiday, there's no holiday pay. [00:30:00]

Jessica Wynn: Exactly. And many describe being understaffed, overworked, and dealing with customers who are, let's just say, not in the holiday spirit, Uhhuh, it's the time of year. Everyone wants to relax, but if you work retail, that's impossible.

Yeah.

Jordan Harbinger: Retail workers are expected to sacrifice personal time, peace of mind, soaring cortisol levels and, and personal safety apparently for a company that would not sacrifice a dime for them at all.

Jessica Wynn: Right. And certainly not share in any of the holiday profits. Right. You know, the psychology of Black Friday for employees is brutal.

Long hours. The intense stress, high pressure, customer traffic, marketing expectations, inventory management add in, aggressive or disappointed customers, and it's a recipe for ion. I don't, I can

Jordan Harbinger: cope with that kind of chaos.

Jessica Wynn: Me either. How do people do it?

Jordan Harbinger: I really don't know. I.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, they get creative. If you can't find an employee during the holidays, it's probably [00:31:00] justified.

Workers are observed to take more breaks, focus on manageable tasks like folding clothes or create mental distance. There's not much incentive for employees to step up to the madness. They just wanna survive the day without losing it. And companies just

Jordan Harbinger: kind of throw these employees to the wolves, eh? I mean,

Jessica Wynn: yeah.

I mean, well, to be fair, they do know having plenty of staff helps. A 2014 study looked at how big crowds and rude customers affect employee behavior. Shocker. When a store's overcrowded and everyone's snapping at each other, even the nicest employees turn into jerks. Contagious

Jordan Harbinger: rage. Another reason I stay home.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, right. Retail workers don't have that option though, to make it worse for employees. Black Friday is what's called a blackout day, meaning you can't request the day off. And if you call in and say you can't make it, even with a legit reason, that often [00:32:00] means instant termination, especially if you're new or seasonal.

That is brutal.

Jordan Harbinger: You're overworked, underpaid. And one flew away from being unemployed. And a headline popped up on my feet earlier that said, target is enforcing a rule that employees have to smile if they're within 10 feet of a customer this holiday season. I don't, is that real? Yeah.

Jessica Wynn: How the hell is that enforced?

I mean, I'd quit or start drinking. That's crazy. Yeah.

Jordan Harbinger: So does online shopping give brick and mortar stores any break from the chaos? Or are we just creating new levels of hell?

Jessica Wynn: A bit of both. Online shopping has reduced some of the chaos, but just because you're stressing out in front of the laptop doesn't keep you from the effects.

So online customer service agents are verbally abused at a ridiculous level. For the consumer, the ding of the email, those push notifications, the limited time offers, they're the modern Pavlovian dinner bell that you referred to previously. Okay. So we got

Jordan Harbinger: fake scarcity, temporary joy, exhausted [00:33:00] workers.

But there's an even darker side with the scams and the fraud, right? You gonna tell us about that?

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every year scammers get more creative. You'll see fake websites, fake ads, fake order confirmations, all designed to steal your data or your money. So I think

Jordan Harbinger: a lot of people don't really understand exactly how a website can be fake.

Jessica Wynn: Well, scammers build sites that look identical to big brands. A really famous example is microsoft.com, but scammers will change that M in Microsoft to a lowercase R and a lowercase N. And when they are next to each other, they very much look like an M. It's wild. So unless you're really reading your URL, you can't tell that you're on a different website.

It's wild. So fonts and similar lettering can be easy to fall for. target.com can be confused with target.co. So if you're a trusting grandma surfing the [00:34:00] web for the hot toy your grandkid wants, you know, you can be easily scammed. Another big one is phishing emails that say your order has shipped. Click here to track it.

This relies on the chance that you have ordered a bunch of stuff and you will click on the fake tracking link. Yeah. Which installs malware and gives access to all your sensitive payment information. Yeah. I fell for

Jordan Harbinger: one recently. I mean, I didn't click on the thing and do I? I, well, I did, but I didn't go the, I didn't give them what they wanted, I should say.

But it was a lawsuit, a fake one. It was like, here's your offending content. And then it was like, it's on Facebook. It's on your Facebook page. I was like, okay. And then it's like, log into Facebook and I was like, this is a really convincing, looking, fake, secure login window for Facebook. But then you look at the URL, which isn't displayed, they have like a fake URL in the graphic that looked like facebook.com.

But if you look at the title of the window, it was like a bunch of nonsense, you know? And I was like, oh my God, no one's looking at that. No one is looking at this. Nobody looks at that. So you would type in your Facebook credentials and it would be like, you know, not [00:35:00] work or something like that, and you give up, but then you've given your credentials to a bunch of scammers.

So man, it's a really, oh my gosh. Like I'm saying, the scams are really convincing sometimes. Like I've been known to bite on a scam here and there, like you figure it out after a few seconds or minutes and I know how easy it is to fall for something. I mean, people fall for things, especially when they're busy.

I think I mentioned before I wanted a remote for RC card and it was like really expensive. And so I found what a really cheap one on a website and I used their pay with PayPal link. It was like an eBay pay with PayPal link. Clicked it and then immediately once I, it looked all legit and it was PayPal like I checked and then once it sent, it was like, here's your receipt from paying like Wong shing4127@gmail.com and i or hotmail.com.

And I was like, that is not a company. So I reported it immediately. PayPal immediately said, we've blocked this offending account and given you your money back. But I'm thinking, okay, what if you just didn't notice that that was a personal name and not the name of a company or like you missed the checkout [00:36:00] window 'cause you were looking at your phone, you just would never get the device.

And then you'd wonder what happened if you're busy or distracted and or not as savvy as somebody who's really paying attention. I mean, that's a deadly combination to get scammed.

Jessica Wynn: And for every person like you who does notice, they've suckered, you know, a hundred other people. I guess my point

Jordan Harbinger: is it's not all a bunch of people who are like, no, I have to pay my IRS taxes with apple gift cards.

And you're like, dude, or like, you know, with steam video game gift cards. 'cause that's the only currency that the IRS accepts. Yeah, they're sneakier. Yeah, they're sneakier than that. They're sneakier than that.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. It's too good to be true. Social media ads on Instagram or Facebook. They're often counterfeit products or just nothing at all.

I'll see stuff, you know, those ads come up now and it has the learn more thing at the bottom. They're mostly fake. Oh, really? Yeah. Plus gift cards are often resold online with nothing on them, so you look like an asshole to whoever you gift them to. So what, you [00:37:00] just

Jordan Harbinger: don't click anything about orders or shipping.

But I, I like to track every moment in my packages. Don't

Jessica Wynn: you do that? I mean, absolutely. But unless you're trying to get your identity stolen, I would disregard a lot of emails. Unless you're a hundred percent positive, it's related to a real order. So go back to the site and log in and you know, take those extra steps instead of just clicking a link in an email.

'cause sometimes they come in saying someone sent you a gift. It just plays on the emotions that come up around the holidays of people wanting to feel loved and worthy of gifts. I use the

Jordan Harbinger: shop app from Shopify. Look, they're a sponsor, but they didn't ask me to do this or anything. I'm not a hundred percent sure how that app works from the inside, but what it I think it does is it seems to dig into packages coming to my address through various carriers and it tracks them with those carriers and then it updates them inside the app.

So I don't need to divulge sensitive info or bookmark a bunch of tabs. I just log into the shop app and it shows like [00:38:00] Amazon's sending you this, this company's sending you that, this other company's sending you that. And it's not just Shopify stores. It'll track pretty much anything. I even see like publishers, it's like, oh, you have a package coming from Random House tomorrow?

I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get a book. And that might actually protect some people who wanna track their items. We can link to that in the show notes. It's a really light app. It doesn't bother you for stuff really. It just shows you when your packages are coming. Sure. When you open it, it's like, Hey, add these socks to your cart.

You know, fine. But it's sort of safer than clicking on a bunch of links in your email. 'cause it, it does all the tracking for you and you don't have to go anywhere.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. That is so worth it. I mean, that shop app you use has really strong security measures to keep personal information safe. Yeah, that's the most important thing.

There's other ones too, like Merc and whatnot. They implement all kinds of protections from two step authentication to all kinds of encryption tricks. And they help. But the problem is hackers and scam artists are always finding [00:39:00] ways around them. So it's like this security cat and mouse game. Yes.

Jordan Harbinger: So one thing that's annoying me right now is I ignore Bitcoin scam emails and Bitcoin scam texts and all this other crap, but I'm getting calendar invites that are like, Hey, Bitcoin transaction, PayPal something, something.

And I'm like, okay, no, no thanks to this invite. Decline on this invite from RZX 1 2 7 4. Do whatever nonsense thing. Do CX domain. And it's like trying to get you to click on this Bitcoin transaction. And it's like, if this wasn't you, click here. And it's like, why are you sending me a calendar invite with this?

And it's it, it gets around your spam filter 'cause it just goes to your calendar. So it's very stupid and irritating, but it blows my mind how good a lot of these scams look. Now there's professional websites that have clean design brand logos, even customer support numbers. They'll get you that way.

Jessica Wynn: They prey on trust and speed.

Black Friday is all about acting fast, right? So scammers create urgency and are the [00:40:00] products

Jordan Harbinger: themselves even the same? They have to be, right?

Jessica Wynn: Well, this is gonna bum you out. They call it tiered manufacturing or tiered supply chains. Basically, companies make slightly different versions of the same product for different retailers or price points.

So it's the same outside, but different inside. Like the base might be the same, but components will vary. So sometimes it's cheaper electronics, different engines, or plastic instead of metal stuff. You won't notice unless you dig into the specs. Think Walmart gets a cheaper version while a deluxe or tier one version goes to a specialty store, right?

Jordan Harbinger: So it's not just cheap. Yeah, it's cheaper and your bargain is less than it seems. That seems so misleading.

Jessica Wynn: It's totally crazy, but it's how supply chains work. There are layers of suppliers, so tier ones make finished parts. Tier twos make components [00:41:00] for the tier ones. Tier threes that supply the raw materials, you know, send it up the ladder, but the farther away from the final manufacturer, the harder it is to monitor quality.

Do you have a few

Jordan Harbinger: examples of that? That's crazy. I kind of want to add some of these brands that do this.

Jessica Wynn: I mean, it's pretty much everyone. Okay. In plumbing fixtures, you'll see it with Mowen Kohler Delta. The faucet at a big box store might look identical to the one a plumber buys at a supply house. But inside the big box, one will have plastic valves instead of brass.

Sometimes the only giveaway is the tiniest change in the model number, like an R prefix. Or that you'll have to call a professional eventually to come out and fix it. I see. Yeah. So

Jordan Harbinger: the warning is, Hey, the guts in this are crap. How's anyone even gonna notice that?

Jessica Wynn: Well, savvy shoppers compare model numbers.

They check specs. They'll even talk to specialty stores if it's a major [00:42:00] purchase. So the outside packaging lies less than the supply chain does. John Deere is notorious for their mowers at Home Depot or Lowe's being what they call entry level versions with cheaper engines and parts. If you want the commercial grade one, you have to go through a licensed dealer.

So

Jordan Harbinger: landscaping has a class structure that's unreal.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, pretty much. And major appliance makers like Whirlpool and Maytag create exclusive, quote unquote exclusive models. For certain retailers, which is usually a cosmetic tweak, like one handle or piece is a different color that prevents price matching in a sneaky way, and they often downgrade parts to hit a specific price point.

So Mattel, the big toy company, they rely on tiered manufacturing for its Christmas profits. So anything in the electronics department is going to be the worst offender.

Jordan Harbinger: Speaking of ikea, the only store where you can lose your mind, your spouse in three [00:43:00] hours of your life. Let's take a quick pause. Unlike ikea, this ad break has a clear entrance and exit.

We'll be right back. This ad is brought to you by ViiV Healthcare, the makers of Apretude Cabotegravir.

Jen Harbinger: You never skip your SPF and you carry hand sanitizer like an accessory. But what are you doing for HIV prevention? One way to help protect yourself from HIV is Apretude. A prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of getting HIV and adults and adolescents weighing at least 77 pounds.

Jordan Harbinger: You must be HIV negative to receive aptitude and get tested before each injection. If you think you were exposed to HIV or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away. More HIV testing may be needed. Apretude does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections. Practice safer sex to reduce your risk.

Get Apretude as scheduled. Missing doses increases your HIV risk. Don't take Apretude if allergic to it or taking certain medicines that may interact. Tell your doctor about your medical conditions, liver problems, and mental health. Serious side effects include allergic reactions or rash, [00:44:00] liver problems, and depression.

If these occur, get medical help right away. The most common side effect is injection site reaction.

Jen Harbinger: Bring your A game and talk to your doctor. Learn more at apretude.com or call 1-888-240-0340.

Jordan Harbinger: This episode is sponsored in part by the Defender. You know, I've always admired the kind of people who just go for it, the trailblazers, the ones who look at a rough path and think, yep, I can take that.

Are you that kind of person? Or maybe you're working on becoming one. Either way, the defender is the kind of vehicle that's built for people ready to take on challenges, big or small. This isn't just a car that you drive to the grocery store. The defender is for weekend getaways that somehow turn into full blown adventures.

It's for when you decide to take the long way through the mountains across a muddy back road just because you can. And here's something cool. Applications are now open for the Defender Trophy Competition. This is a conservation focused challenge that tests your driving navigation, even your physical skills.

Think of it as an epic adventure with a purpose where you're not just exploring your limits, but doing it for something bigger. So if you're the kind of person who loves a little competition or just wants to see what [00:45:00] you're capable of, the Defender Trophy is your chance to compete with purpose. You'll join other adventurers on an unforgettable journey.

That's all about pushing boundaries, building comradery, and protecting the world. We love exploring. No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win. Begins on July 22nd, 2025, and ends on November 30th, 2025. The trophy collection is open only to legal residents of the United States District of Columbia and Canada, 23 years of age or older.

Void were prohibited or restricted by state law, visit land rover usa.com/trophy For more, thank you for listening to and supporting the show. All of the deals, discount codes, and ways to support the podcast are searchable and clickable on the website, Jordan harbinger.com/deals. Now for the rest of Skeptical Sunday, you know I've never really noticed this, but you're right, I bought, I went to the Apple store.

I was like, I need a screen protector, because I was doing work on a plane and it was, remember we did our like penis enhancement episodes and stuff, and I was talking with this urologist and he's like sending me photos and stuff. [00:46:00] And the guy next to me at the end of the flight was like, are you a doctor?

And I was like, no. And he, it was so awkward because I was like, oh, he thought I was like a, you know, doctor looking at things on the plane. And then when I said no, he's like, oh, per, you're just a freaking weird pervert that sat next to me on the flight. And I was like, I need one of those little polarized things that they have when you work at like a bank, you know, where it's, you can't see the person's screen.

So I go to the Apple store and I buy one, and I was like, this is expensive, but like, dammit, you know? And then so Jen's like, I want one of those. So we ordered one, same brand, and this thing arrives and it's like in this crummy little envelope, not a box. And she puts it on and it's a, it's thin and sort of flimsy.

And I'm like, wait, what? And it was clearly like, this is the Amazon version that we can sell for cheaper to undercut the competition. Because it's thinner, it doesn't work as well. The packaging's not as nice, and the Apple one was like, yeah, we're gonna lay this one on thick. It's gonna be nice and feel robust and have a magnet at the top and come in a box.

It was really interesting and it was the same companies, [00:47:00] basically the same thing. You couldn't get the one that I got at the Apple store on on Amazon. It wasn't for sale.

Jessica Wynn: That's exactly tiered supply chain. That's exactly how it works and what they're counting on. You're gonna order this one online, so you're gonna get a lesser quality.

The Black Friday specials are often built into the price, and they aren't the standard models. They are that cheaper screen protector, so the shell might look the same, but inside are cheaper panels and less advanced, you know, processing chips or whatever. No one

Jordan Harbinger: is studying the package specs that closely.

It's so unfair, though,

Jessica Wynn: I know, but it's really the only way a shopper will know. So always check the exact model number. If it's identical across all stores, you're not being ripped off. If there's even a letter off or an extra number tacked on the end, that's a store exclusive version and you're paying for cheaper parts.

This happens with everything from car parts, blenders, bidets, someone's [00:48:00] out there making the budget version just for you. Yeah. The American

Jordan Harbinger: way, I suppose.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. Right. And that's why you need to use the internet to your advantage. It's easier online to check those model numbers, read real reviews and compare specs before you assume you're buying what you want.

That's a lot of

Jordan Harbinger: homework for somebody who just wants a new toaster oven or whatever.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, right. True. But is the difference between a real deal and getting duped, you could just not buy anything and save yourself from all the headaches, but we have to buy stuff. It's not just

Jordan Harbinger: sketchy pricing and scams.

Right. There's a whole illusion with the sales themselves.

Jessica Wynn: Oh, absolutely. And here's the secret. A lot of Black Friday sales are exactly that, illusions. Some stores quietly raise prices weeks before the event, then discount them back to the regular price. So it looks like a massive bargain. So there's tools like Camel, camel, camel, which is an app that tracks the fluctuation of prices on [00:49:00] Amazon.

So you can see the price history, and that's when you realize a lot of those huge discounts are just smoke and mirrors. I love that.

Jordan Harbinger: We need surveillance technology to protect us from sales. We save 50% off the fake price they just made up two days ago, and they print new price placards

Jessica Wynn: and it works because the brain doesn't calculate.

It reacts, you see, was 9 99 now 6 99, and your brain fires off dopamine before your logic kicks in. It's more about emotion, right? It's not how

Jordan Harbinger: much you save, it's how much you feel like you save. So it's like a little hubris or ego there.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, for sure. It's cognitive dissonance in a shopping cart.

Gratitude and greed back to back. But it's also about belonging, shopping together, feeling part of a national event. It's, you know, it's ritualized consumption at this point, and now it's

Jordan Harbinger: online, so you don't even have to put a, you don't even have to put on pants to join the mob.

Jessica Wynn: Right, right. Same frenzy, just digitized instead of [00:50:00] trampling each other in a Walmart.

It's people screaming at their laptops when the pages crash at checkout. But it doesn't mean in-store madness is just nostalgia. It's still happens, just not on the same scale. It's like less mosh pit in the aisles and more chaotic line dancing or something. But, you know, crowds still form for hot items in the stores.

It's kind of

Jordan Harbinger: amazing to me, honestly, that people still do in-person shopping or like lining up for a hot item. It's like, dude, just buy it online. I don't get it. I, I can't relate.

Jessica Wynn: I know there's a sneaker store near me that I swear it's like once a month. There's a line around the block. Yeah, it's wild.

But retailers depend on it. I mean, we spend billions in a very short window and stores need that yearly boost to justify keeping those doors open. So yeah, stores design the event to get you in because Black Friday and the days around it can make or break a store's entire year. They need that frenzy.

It's part of the business model. [00:51:00] So some stores implement precautions now by organizing crowds at entrances and in line, but it still gets wild. So they

Jordan Harbinger: need us to act like maniacs. Are there actually good deals? Is any of this worth it or are we just getting played?

Jessica Wynn: Um, mostly

Jordan Harbinger: played. I mean, that's what I thought.

People love saying, well, I got this at 60% off, and then they show their receipt or whatever. But not everyone is buying into this madness, right?

Jessica Wynn: I mean, not everyone, my favorite Black Friday stunts are always from the makers of Cards Against Humanity. Do you know that game? Yes.

Jordan Harbinger: It's a fun party card game.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, it's so fun. It is. So every Black Friday, they raise the prices, raise right the prices of their products online and people still buy it and then they take the profits and donate it to charity. So they started this as a way to create awareness for this dark whole consumerism is creating in our souls.

And I mean this literally, wait, what do you

Jordan Harbinger: mean?

Jessica Wynn: So in 2016, they came up with the holiday hole. They literally [00:52:00] dug a hole in the ground and told people, we'll, keep digging as long as you keep sending money. And they raised over a hundred thousand dollars on Black Friday to dig nothing. That is

Jordan Harbinger: not

Jessica Wynn: a scam.

I don't know what that is. Is that performance art? I guess. I mean, it was satire, but it was done to prove a point. Their tagline for it was, when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. And they were right. You know, people will spend money for the experience of spending money. It was a perfect metaphor for the void of consumerism that just goes nuts on Black Friday.

So Cards Against Humanity, pull stunts like this every Black Friday. One year, they actually sold nothing for $5. It was advertised as nothing, and they made $70,000 off people who knew they were buying nothing. Geez. Another year they sold literal bull feces to 30,000 people bringing in 180 [00:53:00] grand. Wow.

What a

Jordan Harbinger: world. Is Black Friday just an American thing, or is it global? Actually, I don't even know.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, no, for sure. The madness has been exported. Black Friday has spread to more than half the world's countries, Europe, all in the uk, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Latin America too. It's a thing in Argentina, Columbia, Brazil, even parts of Africa and the Middle East have their own versions.

In some places it's called White Friday or Blessed Friday. That is incredible.

Jordan Harbinger: Other countries watched Americans brawling over big screens and thought like, we need that too. We need to bring that over here. We need that.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. Yeah. Australia, New Zealand got on board around 2013. They kind of were holdouts and now it's one of their biggest shopping days.

It's just this homogenization of the whole world. So the chaos

Jordan Harbinger: is international. We've successfully Yes. Globalized, impulsive spending. Fantastic.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. Capitalism is the world's loveline, which it must be

Jordan Harbinger: sighing some places, and people must not buy into this madness though, right? I [00:54:00] mean, this can't be a thing everywhere,

Jessica Wynn: right?

I mean, cards Against Humanity has fun with it, right? But there is an anti-Black Friday campaign called Buy Nothing Day. They encourage people to take a pause on spending, this is my kind of holiday. I fast on Thanksgiving and I don't spend a penny the next day. Buy nothing day. Yeah. Yeah. It started back in the nineties.

As anti-Black Friday protest. So instead of shopping, people are encouraged to reflect on their habits, fix things they already own, donate, or just chill and not participate. Do people get into

Jordan Harbinger: it? I mean, that sounds like a hard sell.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, there's also creative protests, like zombie walks where people dress up and march through malls and stores to highlight consumerists, mindlessness.

They promote not buying anything for 24 hours to raise awareness about environmental and ethical consequences of over consumption. I kind

Jordan Harbinger: of like that. A hoard of undead moaning, you know, [00:55:00] deals, deals. It looks like a flash mob for the thriller video, but then they're just getting in your way while you're trying to get to the Lego store.

Oh my gosh.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah. That's so silly. But message received, right? Yeah. Buying less could actually make us happier and less stressed. So there are buy nothing groups all over the world. Members gift and request everything from furniture to tools to food. They actually have an app similar to other ones like OfferUp, if you've ever used that.

And they're just sort of community swapping types of things. Things, is that more

Jordan Harbinger: performance art or capitalism eating itself? I can't tell which one it is.

Jessica Wynn: Maybe a little of both, I guess. But it's overwhelming now that Black Friday has become black November. Especially when we see ads. I saw one the other day, black Friday starts Wednesday.

Yeah,

Jordan Harbinger: pretty sure that's just called Wednesday. But if, if spreading it out keeps people from getting maced at Circuit City or whatever, I mean fine by me. So what's your advice for people who do [00:56:00] wanna shop without getting scammed or trampled to death?

Jessica Wynn: First stick to reputable retailers. If you're online, look for the H-T-T-P-S and the lock icon, you know, and the URL bar.

Use credit cards, not debit for better fraud protection. And don't fall for wild discounts or sketchy links. I mean, that's good advice every day, not just during Black Friday. Focus on genuinely needed items. You know, black Friday's a great time to save on items you are already planning to buy for yourself or as holiday gifts.

Yeah.

Jordan Harbinger: Jen does this. She saves things in a list for Prime Day or Black Friday and then just goes to town online and done.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, I mean, that's the smart way to do it. And remember those doorbuster items or special store only models are sometimes cheaper for a reason. So always compare model numbers and reviews before hitting buy.

The hype can make you buy stuff that you don't need and [00:57:00] that can negate any savings you might have made. So just be mindful. Yeah. So be

Jordan Harbinger: paranoid, be boring, and you might actually survive the holidays. Sounds good.

Jessica Wynn: Yeah, pretty much. But if the holidays feel like something you have to survive, you should evaluate what and how you're celebrating.

I mean, the truth is these sales are designed to serve corporations not to spread savings joy.

Jordan Harbinger: Thanks, Jessica, for saving us from crazy consumer bullies, clever opportunistic retailers, hackers, and maybe even ourselves. Thank you all for listening. Topic suggestions for future episodes of Skeptical Sunday to me, jordan@jordanharbinger.com.

Advertisers, deals, discounts, ways to support the show all at Jordan harbinger.com/deals. I'm at Jordan Harb. We are having a Black Friday sale. Um, no, I don't think we are, but I, but I bet a lot of our sponsors are. Actually, I'm at Jordan Harbinger on Twitter and Instagram. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.

You can find Jessica on her substack Between the Lines and Where Shadows Linger. We'll link to those [00:58:00] in the show notes as well. This show is created in association with PodcastOne. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jase Sanderson, Tadas Sidlauskas, Robert Fogarty, Ian Baird, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own, and yes, I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer.

Also, of course, we try to get these as right as we can. Not everything is gospel, even if it is fact checked. So consult a professional before applying anything you hear on the show, especially if it's about your health and wellbeing. Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love.

And if you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use a good dose of the skepticism and knowledge that we doled out today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn and we'll see you next time. We worry about secret societies online, but the real danger may be hiding entrusted institutions that we see every day.

JHS Trailer: I'm a financial reporter by background. I basically fell into this rabbit hole, and so I began to dig, and this Spanish priest called Josemaría Escrivá dreamed up this kind of group, which called itself [00:59:00] Opus Dei, which is Latin for the work of God. He saw his followers as part of this hidden militia that would infiltrate society and use their positions there to basically push society in the right direction.

And he literally tasked them with infiltrating governments business, the world of education, becoming journalists. And kind of using their positions there to be this gorilla reactionary force. The thing that makes this so much worse is that this is an organization which has been legitimized by the Catholic church.

It has the stamp of approval from the pulp, from the Vatican. The way that Opus Dei operates is that it's using scripture to push back on anything progressive and for anything kind of left-leaning, and it's a misuse of religion really. I think the vast majority of Opus Dei members, they don't have a clue about this human trafficking and the way that, you know, certain members are being drugged.

Labor trafficking, I mean grooming of children, all kinds of kind of financial fraud and spiritual fraud as well. All of [01:00:00] these abuses going on, I think they would be absolutely horrified to find out what is going on inside the organization. They have thousands of members. The network runs far and wide assets in the billions.

Anyone that isn't part of Opus Dei is an enemy of Christ.

Jordan Harbinger: Gareth Gore uncovers how Opus Dei built a global empire of secrecy. And why dismantling it might be the fight of our time. Check it out on episode 1170 of The Jordan Harbinger Show.