Cards Against Humanity usually makes the best of Black Friday by making fun of the entire concept in the first place. But this year, rather than sell outlandish things for 99 percent off or actual boxes of feces, the gaming company decided the best thing to do was just call the stunts off altogether.
Instead, Cards Against Humanity announced on Friday it would donate its Black Friday budget directly to charity and encouraged fans of the vulgar party game to join them in doing so. In a landing page on their website, the company said a prank lampooning consumer capitalism felt “wrong” amid a pandemic and the company was moving in a different direction instead.
“The pandemic is raging, our democracy is crumbling, and throwing money at a prank just felt wrong. Instead, we’re donating our entire $250,000 Black Friday budget to nonprofits suggested by our staff. These organizations fight for causes we care about — we believe that Black Lives Matter, that voting rights are human rights, and that no one should go hungry or homeless,” the statement read. “So if you came here ready to pay us $5 to fill the Chicago River with spaghetti or whatever, please give your money to one of these groups instead.”
It’s Black Friday, our favorite holiday. This year, throwing money at a prank just felt wrong. So we donated our entire Black Friday budget to nonprofits nominated by our staff instead. https://t.co/WwZaikqF0U
— CardsAgainstHumanity (@CAH) November 27, 2020
The five charities getting $50,000 each — the Equal Justice Initiative, The New Georgia Project, The National Low Income Housing Coalition, Brave Space Alliance and the Laughing At My Nightmare COVID-19 Relief Fund — were named on the page and also included links so others could make donations directly to their causes instead.
Cards Against Humanity has been particularly sensitive to life in 2020, as earlier in the pandemic it released an early print-at-home version of its kid-friendly game and has long allowed printable PDF versions of their game to circulate without copyright concerns. They’ve also lampooned Black Friday holiday sales and still offered their own Christmas promotions, so it’s possible they do something more substantial for fans looking to add to their decks. But if you were hoping to buy a deeply discounted used car from them or something, you’ll have to wait until next year.