Advent calendars are a holiday tradition for many who want to count down the days with little treats and goodies. However, luxury brands have chosen — by their own free will — to get in on the "fun," and they don't seem to understand that they can't charge nearly (or over) $1,000 for the same trinkets we'd get in calendars from grandma without making people upset.
Last year, it was Chanel's $825 Advent Calendar that spawned harsh criticism for including gifts that customers didn't feel added up to their price tag. Inside the luxury box, buyers found a paper flip-book, a wax seal, stickers, temporary tattoos, and other low-price items.
And this year? Well, it's Dior's apparent turn to give us nothing with their limited edition $3,500 advent calendar.
The "Trunk of Dreams," as Dior named it, admittedly has a gorgeous exterior, which is designed to look like Dior's boutique at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
However, one famed customer — influencer and businesswoman Jackie Aina — has been unveiling the gifts inside on TikTok and...well, people are less than impressed.
DAY ONE: A tease (because the fragrance offers an illusion of better to come).
DAY TWO: A bar of soap.
DAY THREE: A mini perfume.
DAY FOUR: A candle.
WARNING: IT ALL GOES DOWNHILL FROM HERE.
DAY FIVE: ...another mini perfume.
DAY SIX: I shit you not, day six is the lid to the previously opened candle.
DAY SEVEN: ...another fragrance. And this is the size! Those previously pictured white tubes were just packaging that held these sample-size bottles inside.
DAY EIGHT: I bet you're shocked to learn it's another fragrance, aren't you?
Please keep in mind that Dior sells bags, shoes, clothing, makeup, jewelry, and a bunch of other stuff. So...why isn't any of that featured in a box that costs $3,500?
DAY 9: Another bar of soap, which Jackie admits smells "a little generic."
DAY 10: I mean, at this point, what else could it be besides the obvious — another fragrance.
After the first 10 days of unboxings, Jackie went on to tell viewers the calendar "is what it is, but it ain't that great." So to avoid drawing this out embarrassingly further, let me summarize the remaining boxes: a LOT of fragrances, a LOT of bars of soap, a single coaster (not a set), a candle snuffer, and a Christmas ornament.
The fragrances were particularly upsetting because, as Jackie pointed out, "[The sample-size fragrances] don't even count because — lovely scents aside — these come as free gifts in purchases if you shop on Dior.com."
With 24 items in the box, each would need to be worth at least $145 to equate to $3,500, and I think it's safe to say they're not. "I definitely don't think these gifts with purchase-size sample fragrances are worth $145," Jackie lamented in a video. "These soaps are not $145 soaps. ... The price needs to match the value of the gift."
Throughout the series, viewers couldn't help but feel like the calendar is a waste of money...
...and maybe even worth a return.
They hated the redundancy of mini-fragrance after mini-fragrance after mini-soap...
...and the audacity of separating the candle from its lid to create two individual gifts.
In conclusion, we were all waiting for something worth even a fraction of $3,500 to pop up...but it never did.
