Last year, the Whisky Advent Calendar appeared on the Co-op and Sobeys shelves and sold out in two weeks. If you put off buying it until your next visit to the store, it was gone.

Advent calendars for grown-ups are a marketing ploy that’s got way out of hand, says Katie Rosseinsky – and the environmental impact is worrying, too Sunday 24 November 2024 06:00 GMT ...

They're not just for kids anymore. Adult Advent calendars, often stocked with food or booze, are being marketed directly to adults. While slugging back a beer every day might not seem terribly in ...

The advent calendar “taps into childhood nostalgia”, says Steph Thomas, head of retail experience at advertising agency VCCP, “but also for any age, it creates classic Pavlovian behaviours ...

Perhaps most concerning, though, is the sustainability question. It’s estimated that 16.5 million advent calendars containing single-use plastics are in circulation each year.

When I was growing up, nothing heralded the beginning of Christmas like the Playmobil advent calendar. On 1 December, my sisters and I would come downstairs to assess this year’s selection of small ...