The Super Bowl is — well, the Super Bowl — but could making it into a second Black Friday save the economy?
Here’s a hot take for a boring Friday afternoon: Let’s save the American economy by making Super Bowl Monday a Black Friday-type national holiday.
This is an idea that was floated about a month ago by Bloomberg’s Brooke Sutherland, who broke down what it would be like if we doubled up on Black Friday consumerism. It’s an idea that sounds boring — because numbers usually are — but it’s one that makes a load of sense when you break it all down.
All of this was inspired by Heinz giving all salaried employees a holiday on the Monday after Super Bowl 51. Sutherland then gets technical by breaking down just how smart it would be to make this Monday a national holiday and pump it full of Black Friday deals.
Here’s the thing that stuck out to me the most:
Honestly, employees are probably spending a significant portion of the Monday after the Super Bowl surfing the web, anyway, and those on the winning side might be more liberal with their wallets. Imagine what an army of bleary-eyed shoppers could do if they had the day off — they’re right where retailers want them.
That’s spot on.
Taking out anything having to do with the game — which surely would have an impact on dollars spent in certain geographical locations — this is home run. Sutherland notes the success of Amazon’s “Prime Day” as an example of a random day of deals having a positive economical effect.
So would this idea be enough to pivot the American economy?
That’s a question the data probably couldn’t support but it’s an admirable thought. The idea that Americans are spending on deals that stimulate the economy more than just once a year is never a bad thing. Maybe it won’t balance the budget and fix everything, but enticing stimulation of the economy is never something that should just be shrugged off .
