25 Best Black Friday Marketing Campaigns and Stunts

Twenty-five documented Black Friday marketing campaigns changed what the day means. REI closed 143 stores in 2015, according to the Associated Press. Patagonia gave $10 million in 2016 Black Friday sales to environmental groups, according to Fortune. Lush sold 14,600 orangutan soaps for charity on Black Friday 2017, and Cards Against Humanity raised about $100,000 to dig a hole, according to Fortune.

Black Friday 2026 falls on Nov 27. Updated October 2026.

Which Black Friday marketing campaigns are on this list?

This list covers 25 campaigns that reframed Black Friday: closing stores, giving money away, buying products back, protesting consumption, or building a rival event. It does not rank discount-led retail promotions. Each fact comes from a named news report, trade source or the brand's own statement, listed in the sources at the end.

Which Black Friday campaigns closed stores or gave money away?

Six campaigns on this list turned Black Friday into a day of giving or closing: REI, Patagonia, Everlane, Finisterre, Me+Em and Lush.

1. REI closed all 143 of its stores on Black Friday 2015 and paid its employees to spend the day outside, according to the Associated Press (Oct 27, 2015). WARC credits Venables Bell & Partners as the agency and reports that REI's 12,000 employees were paid. REI announced the plan on Oct 26, according to ABC7, and created the hashtag #optoutside. Retail TouchPoints reported that REI ran no promotions and processed no online orders until Saturday, Nov 28. WTVR reported that REI said 1 million Americans had committed to opt-outside activities, and noted criticism from people who said they were current and former employees and described poor wages.
2. Patagonia donated 100% of its global retail and online Black Friday 2016 sales to grassroots environmental groups. It expected $2 million and reached $10 million, according to Fortune (Nov 29, 2016). Lisa Pike Sheehy, Patagonia's vice president of environmental activism, told CNN the decision came after Election Day, and the funds went to groups in more than 20 countries, according to Boston 25 News.
3. Everlane created the Everlane Black Friday Fund in 2014 as a way to support its partners, according to Sustainable Brands.
4. Finisterre donated 2.50 pounds from every purchase over the 2020 Black Friday weekend to The Wetsuit Project, the first initiative of its new foundation, according to The Industry Fashion.
5. Me+Em, a designer fashion retailer, chose to donate to charity on Black Friday 2022, according to Retail Gazette.
6. Lush launched 14,600 limited-edition Orangutan Soaps on Nov 24, 2017, Black Friday, at 8.25 pounds each, with the money going to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, according to Cosmetics Business (Nov 20, 2017). The number matched the 14,600 Sumatran orangutans estimated to remain in the wild. The Ecologist reported that the campaign raised 126,014 pounds.

Which Black Friday campaigns told shoppers to buy less?

Eleven campaigns on this list asked shoppers to buy less or opted out of Black Friday: Patagonia in 2011, Allbirds, Asket, Maium, Lone Design Club, Citizen Wolf, Freitag, Deciem, Haeckels, Rituals and IKEA.

1. Patagonia ran a full-page ad in The New York Times on Nov 25, 2011, Black Friday, under the headline "Don't Buy This Jacket." Patagonia said it wanted to be the only retailer in the country asking people to buy less, and the ad pointed readers to the Common Threads Initiative pledge, according to Patagonia's own account. Casey Sheahan, Patagonia's CEO at the time, told author David Gelles that the $57,000 ad produced $40 million to $50 million in free publicity. That is Sheahan's estimate.
2. Allbirds called on shoppers to "break tradition, not the planet." In 2019 it raised prices by one pound in the UK and donated the proceeds to Fridays For Future, according to The Industry Fashion. In 2020 it raised prices by one dollar, according to Inside Retail (Nov 25, 2020).
3. Asket planned a video showing chaotic scenes from past Black Fridays to encourage customers to reflect on over-consumption, according to The Industry Fashion.
4. Maium, a Dutch outerwear brand, shut down its online store for Black Friday 2020 and hosted a rain-themed meditation session instead, according to The Industry Fashion.
5. Lone Design Club ran an anti-Black Friday event at its Stoke Newington pop-up and its Leeds store in 2020 to highlight the injustice of Black Friday within the fashion industry, according to The Industry Fashion.
6. Citizen Wolf helped customers extend the life of their clothes by dyeing them black, as part of the "Black Fridye" initiative that 26 brands supported in 2020, according to Inside Retail.
7. Freitag closed on Black Friday and directed customers to its SWAP platform, with partners including Brompton, Flamingos Life, Soeder, Secrid and Oy, according to Glossy. Secrid offered a free repair service and Brompton offered one free bicycle ride.
8. Deciem, the company behind The Ordinary, launched "Slowvember" as an alternative to Black Friday, according to Fasthosts (updated Nov 11, 2024).
9. Haeckels ran a "Giving Back" Black Friday campaign to foster opportunities for brands doing good, according to Provenance.
10. Rituals promoted "Green Friday" instead of Black Friday in 2022, according to Retail Gazette.
11. IKEA ran Buyback Friday, in which customers bring back used IKEA furniture in exchange for a voucher, according to Fasthosts. PHA Group dates the campaign to 2020, and Retail Gazette reported in November 2022 that IKEA promoted its Buyback & Resell scheme as a Green Friday alternative.

What did Cards Against Humanity do on Black Friday?

Cards Against Humanity ran four different Black Friday stunts from 2013 to 2016. Fortune summarized them on Nov 27, 2016, and NBC Chicago covered the 2016 hole.

1. In 2013, it offered the game at an "anti-sale" price $5 higher than normal, according to Fortune.
2. In 2014, it sold boxes of feces, according to NBC Chicago.
3. In 2015, its "Give Cards Against Humanity $5" sale offered nothing in return, and more than 11,000 customers paid anyway, according to Fortune. NBC Chicago reported that the sale raised more than $71,000.
4. In 2016, it raised about $100,000 to dig a "Holiday Hole," according to Fortune. NBC Chicago reported that each dollar donated added about half a second to the hole's countdown clock.

Which Black Friday campaigns created a rival event?

Three campaigns on this list created a separate day or movement around Black Friday: Buy Nothing Day, Small Business Saturday and GivingTuesday.

1. Buy Nothing Day was founded by artist Ted Dave and promoted by Adbusters. The first one was organized in September 1992, and in 1997 it moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving. In 2000, almost all major television networks refused Adbusters' ads for it except CNN, according to Daily Hive.
2. American Express launched Small Business Saturday in 2010, and the first one was held on Nov 27, 2010. The US Senate unanimously made the day official in 2011, according to WSB-TV. Fox Business reported that the campaign launched on Facebook and reached more than one million people in its first year.
3. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y in New York, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, and falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, according to Broadway Stages and the Georgia Baptist Convention's archives.

How did Shopify use Black Friday to show data?

Shopify built a Black Friday Cyber Monday Live Globe that shows its merchants' sales as they happen. Shopify said the Live Globe has been a Black Friday weekend staple since 2018, and in 2024 it was projected onto the Exosphere at Sphere in Las Vegas, according to Shopify (Nov 29, 2024).

Why did these Black Friday campaigns work?

Most of the campaigns gave news outlets a concrete number to report. The Associated Press reported REI's 143 stores, Fortune reported Patagonia's $10 million and Cards Against Humanity's $100,000 hole, and Cosmetics Business reported Lush's 14,600 soaps. A reporter can quote a store count or a dollar figure, and each brand supplied one.

Each brand also stated its reason in its own words. REI announced a month ahead, and Patagonia published its 2011 reasoning on the day of the ad.

What should a brand copy from these Black Friday campaigns?

A brand planning a Black Friday campaign in 2026 should copy three mechanisms from the examples above.

1. Announce early. REI announced on Oct 26, 2015, 32 days before Black Friday that year. The equivalent date for Black Friday 2026 (Nov 27) is Oct 26.
2. Attach a number to the stand. The Associated Press reported REI's 143 closed stores, Fortune reported Patagonia's 100% pledge, and Cosmetics Business reported Lush's 14,600 soaps.
3. State the reason in one sentence on your own site. Patagonia published its reasoning on the day of the 2011 ad.

For the wider seasonal calendar, see the Q4 holiday marketing calendar for small businesses. For another values-led campaign, see Nike's Dream Crazy and purpose-driven PR success. For brand backlash cases from the same period, see verified marketing scandals from 2024 to 2026.

Sources

• Associated Press via FOX 9, "REI closed Black Friday, employees paid to get outside," Oct 27, 2015
• ABC7, "REI to close Black Friday, pay its employees to 'opt outside'," Nov 27, 2015
• Retail TouchPoints, "REI To Close Its Stores On Black Friday As Part Of #OptOutside Campaign," Oct 27, 2015
• WARC, "REI: #OptOutside"
• WTVR, "Why REI stores are closed on Black Friday," Nov 27, 2015
• Patagonia, "Don't Buy This Jacket, Black Friday and the New York Times," Nov 25, 2011
• David Gelles, "The Secret History of 'Don't Buy This Jacket'"
• Fortune, "Patagonia's Donating All $10 Million of Its Black Friday Sales to Charity," Nov 29, 2016
• Boston 25 News, "Patagonia to donate $10 million from Black Friday revenue," 2016
• Fortune, "Black Friday's Worst Deal? A $100,000 Hole in the Ground," Nov 27, 2016
• NBC Chicago, "Cards Against Humanity Raises Thousands of Dollars to Dig a Hole for Black Friday," 2016
• Sustainable Brands, "Anti-Black Friday Movement Continues to Promote Repair, Reuse Over Rampant Consumption"
• Inside Retail, "Inside the arms race of anti-Black Friday campaigns," Nov 25, 2020
• The Industry Fashion, "Eight brands that are making a positive impact this Black Friday," 2020
• Retail Gazette, "Five retailers taking an anti-Black Friday stand," Nov 2022
• Glossy, "'Anti-Black Friday': Inside brands' alternative approaches to the shopping holiday"
• Fasthosts, "4 brands that said no to Black Friday," updated Nov 11, 2024
• Provenance, "12 inspiring Black Friday campaigns for eco-conscious shoppers"
• PHA Group, "How Brands Can Stand Out with Black Friday Campaigns That Do Good"
• Cosmetics Business, "Lush turns orange for Black Friday with orangutan charity launch," Nov 20, 2017
• The Ecologist, "Lush collaboration with #SOSsumatra," Nov 29, 2018
• Daily Hive, "Buy Nothing Day 2011"
• WSB-TV, "What is Small Business Saturday?"
• Fox Business, "Inside Small Business Saturday With American Express"
• Broadway Stages, "Small Business Saturday | November 30," Nov 12, 2024
• Georgia Baptist Convention archives, GivingTuesday column
• Shopify, "Black Friday in 3D: Welcome to the Shopify mothership," Nov 29, 2024