Get Ready for Black Friday 2012: The Ads Have Already Begun to Leak!

It seems as if the chaos, speculation, and pomp of Black Friday begins earlier and earlier every year. For example, in 2011 stores began opening so far in advance that the shopping holiday actually began on Thanksgiving Day. And retailer ads describing what stores planned to offer during Black Friday week began leaking onto the Internet just a few weeks into October last year.

And for 2012, it looks like the trend will continue; in fact, Black Friday whisperings have already begun, as Engadget has posted a purportedly leaked ad from Sprint. If valid, the wireless carrier is planning to offer the Samsung Galaxy S III Android Phone (likely the 16GB version) for just $49.99. For comparison, that would be the lowest price we've seen yet by a full $50. The phone is currently priced at $99.99 with a 2-year contract with Sprint.

If this is indeed what Sprint is planning to offer Black Friday shoppers, retailers like Amazon will likely undercut this promotion. In fact, last year Amazon offered a massive "Penny Pincher Sale" right before Black Friday wherein numerous recently-released smartphones were discounted to just a penny — including the Motorola DROID RAZR, which had debuted in early November 2011. Given that the Samsung Galaxy S III was released in June this year, and will be six months old come late November, we wouldn't be surprised to find a better deal on the S III than this Sprint promo.

In general though, early Black Friday ads tend to be mediocre, and frequently big retailers will release complete and confirmed ads the week before Black Friday itself. In the meantime, dealnews plans to analyze all of the Black Friday ads that trickle on to the Internet; our full Black Friday Predictions feature will be published October 2. And with that, we certainly hope you're ready to start thinking about the most epic of shopping holidays again!

Set up an email alert now to keep abreast of the latest Black Friday ads. And for more of what to expect from the coming shopping season, check out our consumer shopping research page.

Front page credit: Multy Shades