An Ode to Chocolate Advent Calendars
A Love Letter to the Humble Chocolate Christmas Advent Calendar
Christmas adverts are popping up on TV, festive songs are playing in the shops, and I'm tempted to put on "Love Actually" for the 179th time. There are so many things I love about this time of year, but there is one part that makes me go a little "bah humbug" and, I imagine, is about to make me pretty unpopular: Christmas Advent calendars. More specifically, the sheer amount of options that are now available. Because I am an advocate of the less fancy, less visually appealing, fuss-free chocolate Advent calendar.
The last decade has been overrun with beauty Advent calendars, with brands promising luxury mini and full-size goodies behind windows in the run-up to the big day. Popularity has soared with a quarter of festive shoppers planning to buy a beauty Advent calendar in 2022, according to Statista, with almost every brand you can think of churning out its festive fix with waiting lists filling up by September. I get it, they are beautiful and undoubtedly stocked of useful goodies as well as luxury treats. Like Mariah Carey, beauty calendars are the royalty of Christmas countdowns, if you will.
"When I was little, nothing got me more excited than chocolate for breakfast. To be honest, it still does."
Food Advent calendars full of weird and wonderful gins, cheeses, or pork scratchings (obvs) have got in on the act as savvy retailers recognise the pull of the snack countdown. There's even unique Advent calendars of jewellery or sex toys available to spice up your December. But I want to shout out my unwavering love of the humble chocolate Advent. And I don't mean fancy luxury chocolate covered in special gold wrapping or placed on 24 velvet cushions. I mean a run-of-the-mill, basic supermarket chocolate Advent calendar.
Now I know Advent calendars have evolved over time and even chocolate was once seen as a luxury. The original Advent calendars of yesteryear that involved chalk markings, candles, or Biblical imagery are long gone. Printed Advent calendars with pictures behind windows replaced them until Cadburys introduced chocolate to the masses in 24 (25 if you're lucky) bite-sized pieces in the 1970s. Twenty years later, they became the norm and I couldn't be more grateful.
When I was little, nothing got me more excited than chocolate for breakfast. To be honest, it still does. I'd go to the supermarket with my parents and pick out the design I loved best that year. For £2, my December was made. Before school, I would open the requisite window and eat that little piece of velvety goodness. I would never eat ahead of the date – I'm not an animal – and spent what felt like an eternity waiting for Santa's arrival. That little piece of festive-shaped chocolate would signify magic was on its way. As an adult, with so many Advent calendars targeted at my love of beauty and fashion, I still always without fail choose a chocolate countdown over a skincare-filled box.
"That little piece of festive-shaped chocolate would signify magic was on its way."
I don't begrudge anyone who buys an alternative Advent calendar at all. I've even been tempted from time to time, but nothing screams a festive countdown to me like a little square of chocolate. Plus, we are in a cost of living crisis, life is getting more expensive, and I feel like we're losing the thrill of the little glimmers of happiness that don't involve gratuitous spending. If I open a treat for myself every day in December, how will the big day match up in comparison? "Another day, another present" on the 25th? While lots of brands have thankfully produced more sustainable Advent calendars in recent years, there's no denying there's still unnecessary waste created by the over-consumption of plastic products in them.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the appeal. The idea of topping up your jewellery box with gorgeous pieces throughout December or opening a window to find a new mascara just as you've run out for party season is a thrill hard to compete with. But it just feels . . . a lot. Advent calendars have almost become competitive shopping, signing up for waiting lists, and comparing with friends. Yet you can always get your hands on a Dairy Milk festive slab, a Lindt pick & mix, or a Celebrations countdown.
As experts reveal that decorating early for Christmas actually does make us happier, I am hereby declaring that a little chocolate bite in December will give that same festive glow. As a Christmas traditionalist (who knew?!), let's take it back to basics. There's already the stress of party outfits to purchase and awkward secret Santa gifts to buy, so let's remember the joy and magic of childhood with a chocolate shaped as a robin behind Door 6. It's a nostalgic throwback that will fill you with warmth, I promise.
