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Jessica Levinson said something on LinkedIn the other day that really resonated with me: “Black Friday doesn’t feel special anymore.”

And honestly? She’s right.

I mean, when was the last time a Black Friday email actually surprised you? Most of us already know which brands we’re going to buy from before the emails even hit our inbox. We know everyone’s doing 40-50% off. We know there will be “EXTENDED” subject lines on Sunday. We know someone will send a “just kidding, the sale’s still on” email. It’s very predictable at this point.

But here’s the thing: while most brands played it safe with their standard discount playbooks, a few actually did something interesting. So I wanted to highlight three Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaigns that caught my attention, not because they had the deepest discounts, but because they had an interesting angle.

1. Patagonia’s Anti-Black Friday Campaign

Okay, this isn’t new. Patagonia has been doing this for years. But it’s still refreshing every single time I see it.

Instead of offering a discount, Patagonia sent their classic anti-Black Friday message. The email literally says “No Black Friday Sale” with a photo of what I’m assuming is a Patagonia employee looking at their phone and laughing. The subhead? “No Black Friday sale… and the excuse is #%!@ at best.“

I love this.

The message is simple: hey, we know it’s Black Friday, but try something different. Shop our used products. Buy quality. Repair your existing gear. Give back to charity.

It’s very on-brand for Patagonia. I get that not every company can pull this off. But if you’re that type of brand (one that actually stands for something) this message resonates way more than another “50% OFF EVERYTHING” subject line.

And here’s what I suspect (though I have no data to back this up): Patagonia probably still makes revenue from this campaign. The email features their “Black Friday B-sides.” Used products, repair services, charitable giving options. People who align with Patagonia’s values will absolutely buy from this email, discount or not.

Plus, at this point, if Patagonia did start doing a traditional Black Friday sale, they’d probably see backlash. (Though they’d probably also make a ton of money.)

2. Atoms’ $19 Mystery Shoe Box

Atoms is a DTC shoe company, and they did something I thought was pretty clever: for $99, you get two surprise pairs of their shoes. The original price could be over $334.

Now, sure. You might not get a pair you love. That’s the risk. But you might get two pairs you love for a quarter of the price. And that element of surprise makes it way more interesting than “40% off with code BFCM40.”

I’m assuming this helped Atoms move inventory that wasn’t selling as well (hopefully, people still got shoes they liked). But more importantly, it gave them something different to promote.

The emails supporting this campaign were great too. Really cool animations, large bold fonts, strong visual hierarchy. It was clear they put thought into how to make this offer feel special, not just slap a discount code at the top of their standard template.

This is what I want to see more of: offers that feel like actual offers, not just percentage-off discounts that every other brand is running.

3. Pit Viper’s Cyber Monday Minute (My Favorite)

This one takes the cake for me.

Pit Viper announced that everything on their website would be 50% off for exactly 60 seconds. That’s it. Monday, December 1st at 2 p.m. Mountain Time.

The email had this hilarious animated GIF that said “FOR 60 F***ING SECONDS” (very on-brand for Pit Viper). Then they included a time zone converter (already set to the correct time) with a note that says “If you’re not in Mountain Standard Time, use this Time Converter with the time already plugged in. I couldn’t make it easier for you.”

AND an “Add to Calendar” button.

They literally made it as easy as possible for you to show up for their one-minute sale.

I’d honestly be worried about whether their website could handle the traffic spike (that’s a lot of people hitting the site at exactly the same moment). But as a campaign concept? Brilliant.

It’s still a 50% off discount. The same thing everyone else was offering. But the twist makes it memorable. It’s funny. It’s on-brand. And I bet it generated serious revenue for them while also getting people talking about it.

What I Want to See Next Year

Here’s the problem: 50% discounts can work, but so many brands are overusing them. The same deals we saw on Black Friday? We saw versions of them on Memorial Day, Labor Day, Prime Day, and probably your brand’s anniversary sale too. When everyone’s inbox is full of identical offers, the discount itself stops mattering.

With thousands of brands all screaming “50% OFF” at the exact same time, you need something more to cut through. An angle. A twist. Something that makes people actually want to open your email instead of just assuming it’s the same deal everyone else is offering.

That’s what Patagonia, Atoms, and Pit Viper did right. They gave people a reason to pay attention beyond just the numbers.

We uploaded thousands of Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails to emaillove.com this year. You can check them all out in our Black Friday and Cyber Monday galleries if you want to see what your competitors were sending, or if you’re already planning for next year.

P.S. If you saw a Black Friday campaign that actually surprised you this year, I’d love to hear about it. Email me at [email protected] and let me know what stood out to you.

Much love,
Andy

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove