It’s Never Too Early To Leak Black Friday Promos
Retail sales may be in the gutter, but that doesn’t mean consumers have lost their appetite for a bargain. Example A: Today’s kerfuffle over what looks like a leaked Sam’s Club ad for the Nintendo Wii.
Gadget blog CrunchGear posted Wednesday that the warehouse chain, part of Wal-Mart, will sell the popular videogaming console, along with extra Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers, and games King of Clubs Mini-Golf and Mario Super Sluggers, for $224 the day after Thanksgiving.
Buying all that gear on Amazon would cost more than $400, based on today’s prices, and as CrunchGear’s Matt Burns writes, “It might even be good enough to forgo post-turkey sleep and wait in line with soccer moms at 2:00 a.m. to ensure you get one of ‘em.” On gaming blog Kotaku, there’s already talk of the mob scene (and resale opportunities) that will result.
The problem is that most retailers keep their Black Friday deals under wraps so they kick off the holiday season in a big way, and also so that eager shoppers don’t preemptively rush the stores, then come back after the sale to demand credits.
Walmart sent a takedown notice to TechCrunch, which publishes CrunchGear. The letter, which TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington posted, says that the information is proprietary and confidential prior to its intended release date, but also that the pricing information is inaccurate.
“I don’t see how it can be both,” Mr. Arrington writes. “Whatever the case, we’re well within our rights to post this, so we’re leaving it up.”
But BlackFriday.info, the site CrunchGear referenced in its original post, did comply, leaving the message “Sorry, but Sam’s Club has requested that we remove their 2008 Sam’s Club Black Friday ad” on the offending, and now empty, page. Another site, Black Friday 2008, blogged that the price was Photoshopped and that it is actually $425.
As one TechCrunch commenter pointed out, these retailer takedowns have been happening for years, with thrift-shopping sites like FatWallet, DealofDay and other Black-Friday forums often targeted.
- Andrew LaVallee
