Weirdest Advent Calendars

1. Cadbury's Dairy Milk: No Chocolate

Image Source / The SunIf you have any sort of advent calendar, you expect chocolate - there's no debate about that. And if you get an advent calendar from a brand whose whole business is chocolate, then you definitely expect that. But back in 2019, Cadbury's shipped out advent calendars which had no chocolate at all. Every day, the doors would reveal an empty hole.

2. John Lewis's 'No Chocolate' Greeting Calendar: Wrong Dates

Image Source / The SunUnlike Cadbury's, John Lewis's calendar a few years ago was made with the intention of no chocolate being inside - so buyers knew that when they got it. But the aim of this calendar instead was to provide a little message inside the window every day instead of a chocolate treat. The only problem was, the window behind 2nd December said Christmas was only 16 days away...

3. Hotel Chocolat: No Door For The 3rd December

Image Source / Bristol LiveNot only did this calendar from Hotel Chocolat have no chocolate - again, the chocolate suppliers made this known that this was intentionally a chocolate-free calendar - but it was also missing one of the doors from the month, the door for the 3rd December. At least with it being chocolate free you don't have to cry about having one less chocolate because of a mistake...

4. Cadbury's: Their Messed Up Covid Message

Image Source / The SunBack fresh from the no-chocolate drama, Cadbury's then made another mistake in their 2020 calendar offering, during the time that Covid was rife and many families were spending their Christmasses apart due to isolation rules. Behind one of the doors printed on this calendar was the advice, "Give hugs at Christmas".

5. Zoella: Amazon Tat With A High Price Tag

Image Source / The MirrorYouTuber Zoella released her very own advent calendar a few years ago, which had a pretty hefty price tag at around $60. So for that price, you'd expect some damn good items behind every window, or at the very least some gourmet chocolate. The calendar was supposed to offer different items every day, but it revealed 'tat' like pens and cookie cutters which could be found on Amazon for under a dollar. Oh - and it only had 12 windows.

6. Chanel: An Advent Calendar Around $750

Image Source / Glasgow LiveHOW MUCH? You'd want some luxury items for 25 days from the designer for this high price tag! Or better yet just don't spend that much money on an advent calendar! But the contents of this Chanel calendar were everyday items like a keychain and a sticker book. That's right - a sticker book!

7. Celebrations: A Bounty Fail

Image Source / Sky NewsIf you're a fan of Celebrations chocolate boxes - or even if you're not - you'll know that one of the most least-popular chocolates usually left in the bottom of the tub is the Bounty. So this calendar for some reason thought it would be a good idea to include the Bounty bar in their advent calendar - not once, but for two days back to back!

8. Heroes: The Cadbury Creme Egg Controversy

Image Source / Kev's Snack ReviewsFor me, personally, creme eggs are the best chocolates, and it's nice you can enjoy them at Christmas and not just for Easter. But not everyone feels this way about the Cadbury Creme Egg - some people loathe them. Heroes' advent calendar caused a controversy by having the creme egg be the very first chocolate behind the first window - which apparently is unforgivable.

9. Nightmare Before Christmas: Horror Figurines Not Even From The Movie

Image Source / Sheffield StarNow to any NBC fan, an advent calendar that you can get a figure of a character behind the window every single day sounds like a treat. The problem is when those figures are most definitely not NBC characters. And worse still, traumatising for children. With this calendar back in 2021, a poor, unsuspecting four year old with this calendar ended up with horror figurines of characters like Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A new meaning to 'nightmare' before Christmas.

10. Paw Patrol: Too Much Chase

Image Source / YouTubeThis one is more upsetting for parents with Paw Patrol-mad kids (or maybe just adults who love a bit of Paw Patrol). For this calendar a few years ago, you received a different doggy pal behind every window, but the leader of the Patrol, Chase, showed up three times in the calendar while other characters were overlooked. Sob.

11. Music Advent Calendar

Image Source / Museum SelectionYou're either going to love or hate this one, depending on how much Christmas songs drive you insane. This gramophone music advent calendar doesn't give chocolates every window, it gives a different Christmas song every day in the form of a tiny vinyl record that can be played on mini record player.

12. Cheese Advent Calendar

Image Source / SquareMealWould you ever pick cheese over chocolate? Maybe on Christmas Day you'd want both on the dinner table, but for an advent calendar, surely you wouldn't want cheese every day? This one features 24 different cheeses, including festive flavours like gingerbread. While you can definitely enjoy eating chocolate every day, I think you'd get a bit sick of cheese after this one.

13. Lovehoney Sex Calendar

Image Source / thebiggayreviewJust in case you want to spice up your festive love life and lose weight through sex rather than putting it on eating chocolate every day, Lovehoney has you covered with this one - and by one, we actually mean four that you could choose from! Each window would unveil something to help give your love live some seasonal spice.It's not so ridiculous to think chilli sauce would be a great thing to have around Christmas time with all the cooking, but getting a spicy chilli sauce every single day might be a bit much... especially because if you were trying to use one of those every single day it would be a bit too much hot stuff.

21. Harry Potter 12-Day Sock Calendar

Image Source / eBayHarry Potter theme calendars are always great, but this might just be too much sock around Christmas time, especially because sock is the go-to item for many parents struggling to think what to buy their kids. So you'll probably end up with socks on top of socks. But the worst thing about this one is it's only 12 days!

22. 'A Date A Day' Couples Calendar

Image Source / Ruin My WeekThe idea behind this calendar is respectable, and great for couples looking to try new dating ideas after neglecting date night for a while, but the issue with this is the pressure of doing a date idea. During a month when everything is busy and hectic anyway, imagine trying to have a date with your partner every single day because of this calendar.

23. Screwdriver Advent Calendar

Image Source / FAIL Blog - CheezburgerBecause what does everyone want during the best festive period? DIY. Even if you're a home improvement lover, surely you don't want tiny pieces of screwdrivers every day to build your own. It's handy to have when you've built the thing, but just ask for one for Christmas and enjoy a chocolate calendar instead!

24. Spotify Advent Calendar

Image Source / SpotifyAs much as the gift of music is always a good thing, this one seems a little bit... pointless. You can easily load up your Spotify and find a million different Christmas playlists ready to go. So the idea of a music advent calendar that will give you a link to a track behind every door which you point your camera at and have it load up is maybe a bit meh.

25. Plant Advent Calendar

Image Source / House BeautifulThis one's great in theory for plant (and calendar) lovers but surely it's going to get a bit messy... and pricey. Not only is this calendar in the over $200 mark (ridiculous), you're also faced with the fact that potted plants behind the later doors have to wait ages in the dark before they can get any light or water... but maybe I'm missing something here.

26. Tea Bag Advent Calendar

Image Source / Design Fail BlogThis might be a British person's wildest dream, but for the rest of the world - or for people who just don't like tea - this could be a very confusing and pointless one. Who would want a random tea bag behind every window in December when you could justify eating chocolate for breakfast instead?

27. Jam Advent Calendar

Image Source / RedditThe thing with advent calendars is that it's great to have a treat you can use and look forward to the day you open it. That's why staple chocolate ones are the best - you know you're going to get a chocolate, and you know you can eat it. With a jam advent calendar... that's a lot of jam. And you might not want to eat jam every day. What are you supposed to do with it?

28. Harry Potter Jelly Bean Advent Calendar

Image Source / RedditThe thing with this is - again, not that it's Harry Potter, because that's always good - it's been bigged up to be... well, not much really. It's not even a 'Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean' jelly bean calendar, it's just standard jelly beans in 10 normal flavours, and you just end up paying extra for the HP packaging, because there's nothing else Harry Potter about it.

29. MyProtein Advent Calendar

Image Source / ConsumerLab.comThis weird thing about this is December (and advent calendars in particular) are the perfect excuse to eat more unhealthily and eat more junk than you usually would. So the idea that an advent calendar can be full of protein gear for health fanatics is a bit weird - just don't buy an advent calendar. And it'd be a lot cheaper, because this one's expensive!

30. Biscuit Jar Instead Of A Window Calendar

Image Source / notonthehighstreet.comThis seems like a fun, different idea to the traditional box calendar with windows to open - the only issue is the logistics of finding the biscuit with the right number on it. Imagine running late for work in the morning and having to pull out every single biscuit from the jar to find the number you need? Too much effort.