A day after Thanksgiving is considered to be a Black Day, what it means that most Americans shop on that day for Christmas, it is a win win for both consumers as well as retailers, retailers lure consumers with low prices to their stores and consumers kickoff their Christmas or holiday season shopping. In business term that day is known as black day because retailers hope to go in black on their income statement because of the increased sales.

This year the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha happens to coincide with Thanksgiving. Best Buy with all good intentions wished everyone Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Eid al-Adha in their promotional/marketing material. This created a lot of controversy on the web, and Best Buy was criticized by many to be supporting Muslim festivals. Comments left by many against this article was interesting, many were supportive, many went so far as saying that they will never shop at Best Buy, many wrote it is an act of terrorism since they think all Muslims are terrorist and any act of supporting their festival is also an act of terrorism.

What made me wonder was that a business move by Best Buy to bring Muslim customers to their shop could be politicized and demonized in such a way was reflective of the hatred and ignorance which still exists.

You can view the article and the comments on Brandweek.com

In response to the Best Buy ad, we sent a letter to Best Buy commending their move and exhibiting the importance of multicultural, diverse society which exists and how we have to respect each others religion, belief, opinion, moral and social values.

Letter to Best Buy:

On behalf of the American Muslim Consumer, a project of MLink, and the American Muslim Community at large, I am writing to thank you for your recognition and support of our Eid Holiday.

Best Buy’s commitment to diversity, even in the face of criticism, is a testimony to your company’s reliance on the highest standards of business excellence and customer service. Your decision to stand with our community in celebration of our holidays, as you have with other communities, is at the very epicenter of the spirit of multicultural diversity and the highest ideals of our great nation. I applaud your bold initiative to place principle above profit, and sincerely hope and expect that Best Buy will continue on this path as a way to forge greater understanding and unity amongst your culturally diverse patrons. Best Buy, through this initiative, continues to display its ability to serve as an influential leader in the areas of promoting multicultural marketing.

I would also ask you to convey my sincere thanks to all the people in your company who contributed in any way to this campaign. Please let them know that the sum of their contributions will result in our organization’s effort to encourage our community to support Best Buy by making it the preferred choice for our consumer needs.

The American Muslim Consumer, www.americanmuslimconsumer.com, is committed to serving as a bridge, whereby businesses and executives would be able to understand and access the American-Muslim Market through useful insights, information and opportunities. We are also committed to informing our community members about organizations, such as Best Buy, which are setting new standards of social responsibility, serving as powerful examples designed to inspire other companies and organizations to do the same. We look forward to your continued support and are eager to hear how else we can be of benefit to your organization.

In closing, to those who decided that they will never shop at Best Buy: the December sales for Best Buy topped Wall Street expectations and were up by almost 8.2%