Black Friday 2017 Freebies And Promotional Offers Guide

Jan. 17, 2026, 10:36 a.m.

Black Friday 2017 presented a diverse landscape of promotional giveaways, ranging from instant gift cards and high-value coupons to complimentary beverages and pet accessories. These offers were strategically deployed by retailers to drive foot traffic during the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush. Unlike standard discounts, these freebies often required specific timing or limited quantities, making them highly competitive. The promotions spanned major categories including apparel, electronics, books, and pet supplies, with distinct tiers of value available to early shoppers versus those arriving later in the day.

The promotional strategies observed in 2017 included "free with purchase" models, instant rebates, and unattached giveaways intended to create store loyalty. For instance, Barnes & Noble offered a no-purchase-necessary complimentary beverage to warm early shoppers, while high-volume retailers like Belk and Bon-Ton incentivized the first waves of customers with mystery scratch-off cards and guaranteed gift cards. Additionally, office supply chains utilized rebate programs to offer near-free consumables, and pet retailers combined free merchandise with charitable donation opportunities.

Mechanics of Black Friday Freebies

The structure of free offers in 2017 generally fell into three distinct categories: unattached freebies, free-after-rebate items, and free-with-purchase incentives. Understanding these distinctions was crucial for consumers looking to maximize value.

Unattached Freebies and Doorbusters

Several retailers offered items with no strings attached, though often with strict limitations on quantity or time.

Barnes & Noble: Provided free coffee to shoppers before 10 a.m. on Black Friday. This offer required no purchase, serving as a hospitality measure to encourage early attendance.
Field & Stream: Offered a free gift card and an entry into a drawing for a $500 gift card to the first 150 people in line on Black Friday or Thanksgiving.
Belk: Distributed a mystery scratch-off card valued between $15 and $250 to the first 150 customers. Additionally, they provided a gift card giveaway ranging from $5 to $1,000 "while quantities last" on Thursday.
Bon-Ton and Boston Store: Both offered free gift cards valued between $5 and $500 to the first 200 customers on Thursday.
Bass Pro Shops: Provided a free Santa or Snowman Spinner and a prize to the first 200 people in line on Saturday and Sunday.
Cabela’s: Offered a free prize to the first 600 people in line.
Goody’s: Gave a "Giftspiration" $10 coupon to the first 75 customers, with two customers receiving a $250 or $50 gift card. One customer on Thursday received a free 4-foot Teddy Bear or a Pelican premium cooler.
Half Price Books: Provided a tote bag and a $5 gift card to the first 100 customers. One random tote bag contained a $100 gift card.
JCPenney: Distributed coupons with varying values, including $500 off $500, $100 off $100, or $10 off $10. These were available upon store opening.
Petco: Allowed customers to dress their pets in free "ridiculous" outfits (implied seasonal costumes) and encouraged donations to animal welfare organizations.

Free-After-Rebate and Near-Free Offers

These offers required an initial purchase followed by a rebate process, resulting in a net cost of zero or one cent.

Staples: Offered a ream of paper for one cent after rebate. This required using a specific coupon barcode or code (41050) and submitting a claim through the Staples Easy Rebates online system. The rebate did not require postage. The offer expired on October 28, 2017.
Staples (with Iron Mountain): Provided free paper shredding services for up to 2 pounds of paper. This required a specific coupon barcode or code (96938) and expired on October 28, 2017.

Free with Purchase Incentives

These offers required a specific transaction to unlock the free item or value.

Kroger and Fry’s Food & Drug: Offered a free 12 oz or 16 oz can of Mtn. Dew Kickstart. This required joining the store’s rewards or membership program and downloading a digital coupon to the membership card. The coupon had to be downloaded by the offer date but was valid until November 11 or 12, 2017.
Walgreens: Provided a free $10 gift card with the purchase of a $30 iTunes multipack or $50 iTunes gift cards.

Strategies for Securing Freebies

The 2017 Black Friday data highlights several strategies that consumers utilized to secure high-value freebies.

The Importance of Early Arrival

The most valuable unattached freebies were almost exclusively available to the earliest shoppers. Retailers like Belk, Bon-Ton, Boston Store, and Field & Stream explicitly limited their highest-value giveaways (gift cards ranging from $5 to $1,000) to the "first" customers—specifically the first 150 to 200 people in line. This created a competitive environment where arriving hours before store opening was necessary to secure these items.

Digital Preparation and Loyalty Programs

For offers like the Mtn. Dew Kickstart at Kroger affiliates, digital preparation was mandatory. Shoppers needed to be members of the store’s rewards program and actively download the digital coupon to their card prior to shopping. This mechanism tied the freebie directly to customer data collection and loyalty program engagement.

Rebate Processing

The Staples offers demonstrated the utility of rebate systems for obtaining household staples at no cost. The process involved: 1. Purchasing the item at full price (e.g., one cent for paper). 2. Retaining the receipt. 3. Visiting the Staples Easy Rebates website. 4. Submitting the claim online without the need for postage. This system allowed consumers to receive a check or PayPal payment for the rebate amount, effectively making the item free.

Category-Specific Freebies

While Black Friday is traditionally associated with electronics and apparel, the 2017 data shows a wide variety of categories.

Food and Beverage: The Mtn. Dew Kickstart offer at Kroger/Fry's provided a specific beverage product. Barnes & Noble offered coffee. These "refreshment" freebies were designed to keep shoppers in the store longer.
Office Supplies: Staples dominated this category with paper and shredding services, appealing to home office users and those looking to declutter securely.
Apparel and Department Stores: Belk, Bon-Ton, JCPenney, and Goody's focused on monetary value (gift cards and coupons) rather than physical merchandise for their freebie programs.
Pets: Petco offered a unique experience-based freebie (costumes) combined with a charitable component.
Books: Half Price Books offered tote bags and gift cards, while Barnes & Noble focused on hospitality.

Temporal and Regional Considerations

The 2017 Black Friday event was not a single-day occurrence for freebies. Many offers were available on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday), specifically those from Belk, Bon-Ton, Boston Store, Goody's, and Half Price Books. This reflected the industry trend of "Black Friday Creep," where sales and giveaways began days before the traditional Friday date.

Furthermore, some offers, such as the Staples shredding and paper deals, were available prior to the Thanksgiving holiday (expiring October 28), suggesting that the "free stuff" window extended well before the shopping weekend itself. Consumers were advised to verify ad scans for specific timing and regional variations, as store hours and offer availability could differ by location.

Conclusion

The Black Friday 2017 promotional landscape offered significant opportunities for consumers to acquire goods and services at zero cost, provided they were willing to plan ahead and arrive early. The most valuable offers—such as high-denomination gift cards and premium coolers—were strictly limited to the first customers in line, turning the event into a race for value. Meanwhile, digital couponing and rebate systems offered accessible ways for average shoppers to secure staples like paper and beverages without financial outlay. The diversity of offers, from pet costumes at Petco to paper at Staples, demonstrated that freebies were a widespread tactic used across all retail sectors to drive engagement and traffic.