What do a pair of socks, a candle, a vacuum cleaner, and a box of chocolates have in common? All of them are Christmas presents that can be a success or a total flop. That’s because what is an excellent gift for one person might not be for another. But while these examples depend on the person on the receiving end, some items are terrible to give someone, and there’s simply no question about it.
As you probably already gathered, today we’re focusing on gifts; and mostly, the bad ones. We found stories of some of the most unforgivable, ridiculous, even somewhat inappropriate (especially when given at work, which some of the gifts on the list were), and simply the worst gifts people have ever received on Secret Santa. If you thought the ugly sweater you got from Susan in accounting was bad, you might change your mind after reading through this list, so wait no longer and scroll down to find Christmas gift horror stories below.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College, David Ludden, who was kind enough to share his opinion on Secret Santa and its influence on the people involved.
#21
I used to work with this very sexist chauvinistic guy who was really vocal about his views on why women aren’t suited in the workplace. So I got him a nice notepad (Paperchase might I add) that had “The future is female” on the front. I thought it would be funny and thought he would see the funny side too but he was furious! I later found it on someone else’s desk, turns out he gave it to another colleague.
24points
#22
A free gift from a magazine. Not even with the magazine, just the freebie, still in packaging branded with the magazine name.
24points
#23
Expensive nuts and wine, clearly a regift. We had to fill out a form with things we can’t have etc, I am allergic to nuts at the time I couldn’t drink, which I made clear on the form.
24points
#24
I once got a bottle of moisturiser that was 2/3's full...
22points
#25
I had a boss who had an obvious favourite employee. For secret Santa one year she got a mug, mousepad and post-it notes with his face on them.
21points
#26
Got a picture frame. Inside the frame was a picture. This picture had been printed on normal paper, from a s**t printer, in black and white.
The picture was of the gift-giver's face.
The picture was of the gift-giver's face.
20points
#27
I once got an IKEA toilet brush. No idea why, nobody from work had ever been in my toilets to think I needed one.
20points
#28
Budget was a tenner.
Boss gave the perma-intern a tenner and a pack of polo mints.
Classy.
Boss gave the perma-intern a tenner and a pack of polo mints.
Classy.
19points
#29
When I was at school I received a secret Santa, it was a smarties tube with two dead Duracell batteries in it….
12points
#30
A member of staff who was on a fixed contract and was finishing at Christmas. He got a framed print out of a map from Google maps showing the directions from our office to the social security office.
12points
