Christmas is just around the corner, and while things are undeniably beyond a little different this year, it seems that one thing never changes: our desire to spoil our loved ones with gifts. The economy may be in turmoil, and life may have been turned upside down, but Christmas gifts are still a priority for families around the UK, maybe more so this year than ever before.
With the UK spending around £20 billion on Christmas each year, it seems that the PS5 is the must-have gift of 2020, but how does its popularity compare to previous trends, and could it become the most popular Christmas gift of all time? According to Betway, we’ve seen trends from gadgets to fragrances and from toys to collectibles, so what are the all-time popular brands for Christmas?
Christmas is just around the corner, and while things are undeniably beyond a little different this year, it seems that one thing never changes: our desire to spoil our loved ones with gifts. The economy may be in turmoil, and life may have been turned upside down, but Christmas gifts are still a priority for families around the UK, maybe more so this year than ever before.
With the UK spending around £20 billion on Christmas each year, it seems that the PS5 is the must-have gift of 2020, but how does its popularity compare to previous trends, and could it become the most popular Christmas gift of all time? According to Betway, we’ve seen trends from gadgets to fragrances and from toys to collectibles, so what are the all-time popular brands for Christmas?
A look at Christmas past
Christmas trends are far from a 21st-century phenomenon: you’d have to look back 100 years to see how brands first realized what a money-maker this most wonderful time of the year could be.
Ever heard of a fragrance widely known as No.5? Of course, you have. Chanel No.5 may well be the first Christmas gift craze back in the 1920s. A marketing campaign drawing everyone in with feelings of exclusivity. Something they’ve been able to recreate over the following decades by associating the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Nicole Kidman, and Brad Pitt with the fragrance.
It’s not just perfumes that have captured the public’s attention at Christmas: the appearance of the board game, Monopoly, was an instant Christmas hit, selling over 278,000 copies in its first year, and a staggering 1.75 million copies in 1936 alone. To follow were crazes, bordering on obsessions, with Tupperware, Frisbees, and Lego. It was the Polaroid camera of the 1970s that signalled a change in direction and our love affair with all things tech at Christmas.
A very techy Christmas
Polaroid enticed consumers in with boasts of their astonishing advances in technology and, from there, the stage was set for what we’ve witnessed ever since: we all want the latest bit of kit!
The 1980s saw the runaway success of the first Nintendo console, with a whopping 7 million of them being sold in 1988 alone. Nintendo was never going to be a one-hit-wonder and went on to dominate Christmas again in the 1990s, selling 120 million Game Boys.
Other tech companies were keen to get in on the action, seeing Microsoft releasing the X-Box in 2005, followed by Sony entering the market with their PlayStation. In 2013, the PlayStation 4 sold more than 4 million just over the Christmas period.
Of course, tech giants Apple has also had its fair share of Christmas success with the likes of Ipods, Ipads, and AirPods.
Christmas 2020 and beyond
While there have been products such as Power Ranger figures and Beanie Babies along the way, it seems that our love affair with technology is far from over. Each year, the anticipation builds again as we all wait to be wowed by the latest advances.
