People don鈥檛 celebrate Thanksgiving in France, or Denmark, or South Africa - but they do shop on Black Friday.

The U.S. sales phenomenon has spread to retailers across the world in recent years with such force that it鈥檚 prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers.

Workers at Amazon in Germany went on strike for better pay on one of the busiest days of the year. Near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked one of the company鈥檚 warehouses on Thursday to protest over-production they say is killing the planet. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday altogether.

Consumer rights groups in Britain and some other countries say it鈥檚 not always clear how real or big the discounts are. Other critics say it hurts small businesses.

Angela Charlton And Claire Parker, The Associated Press

Like us on and follow us on .