If there’s one thing that truly marks the arrival of December in the UK, it’s the nation collectively tearing open that first tiny cardboard door in an Advent calendar.
From luxury truffle-filled boxes to old-school chocolate calendars you panic-buy at the supermarket till, the ritual has become as much a part of Christmas as tinsel and terrible novelty jumpers.
However, for fans of the Celebrations Advent calendar, that joyful morning moment has come with a side of seasonal fear in recent years.
Chocolate lovers have long swapped horror stories of their calendars serving up the same controversial sweet day after day, transforming what should be a moment of pure indulgence into something closer to a confectionery betrayal.
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Spend enough time on social media each December, and you’ll see that nothing unites the British public quite like collectively dragging a tiny blue wrapper of the coconut Bounty.
Warning: explicit language ahead...
Naturally, the debate became big enough that Celebrations themselves eventually stepped in to address it.
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As reported by our sister site LADbible, the brand explained: "Christmas isn’t Christmas without the annual chocolate debate. Whilst we know Bounty isn't everyone's cup of tea, we also know that for some of you, these first few days will have gone straight on the nice list! Our calendars are all about sharing and surprises, so rest assured, more variety is on the way behind the other doors. Watch this space, the nationwide chocolate debate is about to get even more intense..."
Essentially, enough are complaining about too many Bountys in their Advent calendars for Celebrations to officially declare it’s been aiming to reduce the number of them. For a long time, though, that promise wasn’t enough to soften the blow for those opening three doors in a row only to discover the very chocolate they’d hoped to avoid.
The infamous run of Bountys became something of a cultural meme; even the sight of a sea of blue wrappers in a festive household tub could send people spiralling back to Advent disappointment.
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Finally, though, after years of collective pleading, eye-rolling and coconut-based despair, it looks like the confectionery gods have listened.
A journalist at The Mirror picked up this year’s calendar to investigate whether the Christmas chaos was set to repeat itself.
In news that may shock long-suffering fans, they reported that there wasn’t a single Bounty in sight for the first few days. In fact, the first one didn’t appear until day 14.
For many, that’s nothing short of a Christmas miracle. While some have already sworn off chocolate calendars in favour of craft beer, beauty minis or even cheese, this shift may be enough to coax the faithful back.
Ben Williams