We’re not sure if you’ve noticed, but Christmas has arrived with quite the bang. You’ve probably not been able to escape the constant talk of Christmas over the past few weeks.
Festive foods have flooded the supermarket aisles, Christmas no1s dominate the radio waves, and everyone is discussing their favourite family traditions.
But for those looking for a spot of yuletide peace, it can all get a bit much at this time of year. That’s why we’ve decided to play Grinch and ask 2,042 members of the British public which food item, song and tradition they’d like to permanently send to the scrap heap - and avoid seeing again during the Christmas period.
For many, Christmas is all about food, food, food. However, traditions mean that many of us are faced with plates full of food that we’d rather not eat. But which Christmas food item would we prefer to become a ghost of Christmas past. The answer may surprise you, it’s…
…Eggnog!!
Yes, 20% of our respondents decided to send the dairy-based beverage to the scrap heap - thrusting the long-time Christmas punching bag, the brussels sprout, into second place with 14% of the vote.
However, we did see quite the variance in votes when looking at the results a little more closely. Only 13% of respondents aged between 18 and 24 wanted to send eggnog to the scrap heap, compared to 23% of over-55s.
So why does this generational divide exist? A greater exposure to global culinary traditions through social media may be one reason. Respondents who had claimed to have used SnapChat within a month of taking the survey had a lower aversion to eggnog (15%) than the general public!
Despite what many believe, Christmas is not all about food. It’s also about the unavoidable stream of novelty pop songs invading your ear canals. But which is the one song that the British public would like to dispatch to our festive Room 101? The answer is…
…‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by Mariah Carey!
It appears Ms. Carey has struck a bum note with 13% of the nation, beating out Paul McCartney and Wizzard who both received 9% of the vote.
And Mariah’s message of yuletide romance didn’t go down terribly well with divorced/separated respondents, 18% of whom selected it as their least-liked single, in contrast to the 12% of married respondents who chose it as theirs.
The song seems to have particularly irritated Welsh respondents, with 19% choosing it as its least favourite song, compared to 13% in England and 11% in Scotland. And though Paul McCartney holds legendary status as a global music icon, that can’t buy him love north of the border, with 15% of Scottish respondents condemning ‘Wonderful Christmas time’ to the scrap heap, compared to only 9% of English voters and 4% of Welsh voters.
Every family has its own festive traditions, some recent, some passed down through the generations. But there must be some traditions that have you scratching your head as to why they exist at all. Our respondents had their say, and named the tradition that they’d most like to see scrapped as…
…The Elf on the Shelf!
26% of those who answered our survey said the mobile Santa spy deserved to be dumped, finishing way ahead of the office Christmas party (11%) and Christmas jumpers (10%). Interestingly, more respondents with children in the household (29%) voted to knock the elf from its shelf than respondents without any children at home (25%), suggesting that the constant moving of the elf into new and elaborate hiding places around the house was one thing too many to worry about during the busy Christmas period.
Christmas can stretch the purse strings a little tighter than would be comfortable. We asked our 2042 respondents whether they had ever considered selling any scrap metal to generate additional income to deal with the increasing costs of Christmas. Only 12% had considered doing so.
Maybe next year, you could take some of the stress out of Christmas by scrapping some of the waste metal that is simply lying around your house - you never know, it could make next Christmas run that little bit smoother.
From everyone at EMR, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
