In the past decade, Black Friday in Slovenia has become a media phenomenon without precedent – from a one-day shopping discount, it has turned into an expression the media use to describe consumer frenzy as well as political scandals, sports dramas and economic upheavals. An analysis of more than 6,400 publications reveals that the phenomenon has outgrown its original meaning and become a permanent part of the Slovenian media vocabulary.
Something has happened in Slovenian media in the past decade that we could hardly have expected fifteen years ago. The phrase Black Friday, which was initially only a translation of the American shopping holiday, is today one of the most recognizable media terms – both in stories about retail and in completely unrelated, dramatic headlines about politics, the economy or sports.
An analysis of more than 6,400 publications from the last 13 years shows that Black Friday has become more than a discount event. It has entered everyday media language – sometimes as a trigger for shopping euphoria, other times as a metaphor for bad news.
When discounts are no longer enough: the expansion of Black Friday’s meaning in the media
The most influential media outlets reporting on it most frequently are public and major online portals. RTV Slovenija, Siol.net, STA service, 24ur.com and vecer.com published the most pieces, but the interest is much broader – content comes from as many as 536 different media outlets and more than 1,300 author combinations, which means that Black Friday has “moved in” practically everywhere.
From the content of the articles, it is evident that the Slovenian understanding of Black Friday has also changed. In the early years, coverage mostly focused on events abroad – on how Americans flock to stores that day and set new records. Then the event received its domestic version, which became one of the key signals marking the start of pre-holiday spending. Slovenian retailers quickly realized that they could stretch November discounts to an entire week or even a month, while the media often warned that the deals were not always what they promised.
In recent years, the tone and topics have shifted somewhat. Alongside discounts, stories about overloaded delivery services, the psychology of FOMO-shopping, aggressive online advertising and the impact of consumer habits on household budgets have come to the forefront. Common are price comparisons before and after sales, tips on how to avoid traps, and warnings about manipulations with deceptive discounts.
Even more interesting is that Black Friday is no longer limited to cash registers and online carts. In numerous pieces it is used as a symbol of dramatic, pivotal moments – from “Black Friday for stocks” to “Black Friday for the home club” when a team loses an important match. The expression has become a journalistic shortcut for bad news, crisis events or unforgettable difficult days.
The annual spike: why November brings the highest number of Black Friday publications
If we look at the broader timeline, the pattern is clear: every year at the end of November, a wave of publications appears in the media that is impossible to ignore. On the chart, the peaks repeat almost perfectly – a true seasonal phenomenon created by a single day, but one the Slovenian media stretch into a story for an entire month.
On the timeline below, we show the number of publications that were released exclusively in the month of November, for each year from 2013 to 2024. Data for November 2025 are not shown, as they were not available at the time of the analysis. The real figures show that more than two-thirds of all publications were released precisely in November, meaning that the remaining third refers to completely different contexts. Not to discounts, retailers or shopping frenzy, but to metaphorical and broader thematic uses of the phrase Black Friday.
Black Friday beyond retail: what the media show and how we can analyse your topics as well
A detailed analysis shows that after 2020, the phrase Black Friday appears increasingly outside the context of shopping. The pandemic, political upheavals, economic uncertainty and sports dramas have contributed to the phrase appearing even where it has nothing to do with discounts. Often it appears in an article only in passing – as a way to make a headline sound more dramatic.
Slovenian media have thus turned Black Friday into something that goes beyond shopping promotions. It has become an annual ritual, a symbol of consumer frenzy and a convenient metaphor for days when everything goes wrong. If the trend continues, November will remain the month in which Black Friday appears more often than almost any other expression – whether we are talking about discounts or politics.
For more detailed data, specific media publications or analyses of other topics, you can contact Press Clipping. Their database and archival access enable research of any topic, long-term trend studies and tailored analyses for different needs – from research projects to business decisions.
