SPAM Friday - How did Black Friday ever become a thing in the first place?

Even now that it seems to have persuaded the terminally gullible to take part in a massive annual fight over cheap televisions and discounted fashion accessories, it seems incredible that such an obvious dreamt-up racket could be transplanted from the malls of America to Britain. And it still feels like the deluge of adverts, crap in-store promotions and TV news stories feels out of proportion to how much most people really care.
This year it’s been the spam that I’ve really noticed; as I write, a rising tide of unwanted emails is currently overwhelming my inbox, and the brands sending them would seem less tawdrily desperate if their CEO were currently on my doorstep in fancy dress pleading with me to accept a personal BOGOF offer.
I would say I can’t wait for it to be over, but with most of them now stretching it out (“Black Five Days” etc etc GIVE ME STRENGTH) it rather feels as if it never will be.