The Black Friday 2025 fallout

As an email consultant for good-doing brands, last week was... interesting.

Now that the Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Giving Tuesday craze is (at least officially) behind us, here are my takeaways:

1. Sales aren't the problem - misalignment is.

Every business needs to sell. Audiences are better off spending with brands that create a positive impact than with brands that don't. But good businesses can't make the BFCM decision lightly. When the tactics used during that one weekend contradict how you operate the other 51 weeks of the year, you risk wiping out years of trust-building. Trust is hard to build, easy to lose, and incredibly difficult to regain.

2. Can we stop calling it "Green Friday"?

The goal is sales - sales with better impact, sure, but sales nonetheless. The semantic shift doesn't fool anyone.

3. Too many B Corps and 1% for the Planet brands copy-pasted the standard BFCM playbook.

Multiple emails per day. ALL CAPS SUBJECT LINES. Fake urgency and scarcity. "Surprise" deadline extensions everyone expected. Poor segmentation.

These tactics were never designed for values-driven businesses and their audiences. The question isn't just "Did it work?" but "At what cost?" A short-term sales spike might come at the expense of long-term brand credibility. These companies must include such hard questions in their post-sale debriefs.

4. B2Bs stayed silent in Black Friday 2025, as usual.

Most B2Bs I work with avoid this parade entirely. But what could a strategic BFCM promotion with "better practices" achieve? The gap in the market is right there…

5. The numbness is real.

After last week's email avalanche, more people are growing immune to Black Friday promotions. Values-driven businesses might need an entirely different sales strategy - and if anyone's going to pave that path, it'll be the bold, innovative B Corps, 1% for the Planet companies, and like-minded brands.

Did anything stand out in your inbox last week? Feel free to comment below - I'd genuinely love to hear what you saw.

---

Your inbox last week made you cringe... But you know email can drive real revenue (and impact!) in 2026 - you just don't know how to do it aligned with your values.

Get yourself a VIP Email Strategy Day, and let's build you a playbook worth following.