I don't see what is that sad (or even American) about it. Rationally, yes, discounts are not better for consumers than low prices. But humans aren't rational creatures, and nothing done by JC Penney is going to change that.
After all, isn't not accounting for customers' irrationality in your business also irrational?
What's sad is that these tendencies can be exploited (see attached pictures in my original post) and that we'll subject ourselves to all kinds of stress with regards to deal hunting just to find a bargain that might not end up being a bargain.
And while I know that humans aren't rational creatures (in fact it was my research for a number of years), some of this can be fixed with market leadership and "training" customers to understand that they're acting against their best interest by demanding an economy in which marked prices are in fact price anchoring deceptions.
It's not silly at all, think of how many people have done amazing things for the future of humanity on the basis of "this sucks, it should be better". Identifying deficiencies and looking for ways to improve them is the ethos of building a product. I don't see why this concept should be excluded when it comes to human rationality, which in many ways, is an extension of education, which is a huge opportunity waiting to be tapped.
While it is true that we might increase the rationality of people via education, we are never going to be able to make people anywhere near completely rational. Anyone who would think otherwise has clearly not studied much cognitive psychology or neuroscience.
It's not even clear that fully rational humans would be a good thing. Great art, for instance, doesn't come from being rational. It comes from people with irrational drive and vision.
After all, isn't not accounting for customers' irrationality in your business also irrational?