That Chanel advent calendar and 3 luxury Christmas scams you shouldn't fall for
You may have looked at the price of an iPhone or a designer outfit and closed the page immediately, but never would have expected that the price of an advent calendar would be more than Rs 2,500. But then, Chanel is Chanel. And so is its advent calendar. The price? Rs 62,135 (US $825). Now you would expect *some*thing from that advent calendar if you were shelling out that huge a sum.
Ok, no such luck. The Chanel advent calendar is disappointing to say the very least. TikToker Elise Harmon bought the Chanel advent calendar and upoladed videos of her unboxing the package on her page.
SO, WHAT IS IN THE CHANEL ADVENT CALENDAR?
The videos show a massive Chanel No. 5 bottle-shaped box in black and white, with boxes numbered 5-31 inside it. In the video, Elise says, “Am I crazy? Absolutely, but I’ve never seen a Chanel advent calendar, so let’s see if it’s worth the hype", while beginning to open the calendar.
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Elise then opens box number 9, which has an index card-sized sheet of stickers and is otherwise empty. She says, “Ok, this has to be a joke. This is a joke. Stickers?”. Amusement and disappointment follow. After uploading this video, her followers on TikTok demanded to see more of the advent calendar.
Some of the boxes cointained full-size beauty products like Le Vernis nail lacquer worth US $28 (Rs 2,111) and Rouge Allure lipstick worth US $45 (Rs 3,393), but others cointained products worth barely anything. Some past items that have been known to be gifts with purchase in the past. The number 8 box contained a small jewellery-sized dustbag which Elise described as, “I can’t make this up. It’s just this bag. It’s just a dustbag.”
One TikToker commented, "It’s a dustbag for your stickers obvi." Some of the other 'freebies' in the advent calendar were 'temporary tattoos, a string bracelet with a plastic double CC-branded wax seal, and a flip book'. Here is what Elise posted:
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If you wish to look at more of the videos Elise posted, here is Diet Prada's Instagram post:
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VIRAL VIDEOS, FOLLOWED BY A BLOCK
After the release of her first video on TikTok, Elise has now been blocked by Chanel, and the brand's Instagram account is being flooded with comments over the calendar. Diet Prada reported on December 5, "Elise's unboxing videos have racked up over 41 million views on TikTok. The topic (Chanel's advent calender) has also been trending in China after a blogger’s review amassed over 7 million views, as reported by @jingdaily. Netizens called out Chanel for fraud and the hashtag #Chanelblindbox# has reached over 46 million views on Weibo."
Now, Chanel is hardly alone in this X-mas gate... (or, shall we say Scam-as?)
Here are some others who are following the same path as Chanel:
1. GOOP
Other than its celebrity status, Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop is also known for its extravagant prices. The Goop Christmas guides feature its signature 'This Smells Like My Vagina Candle' priced at US $75 (Rs 5,649). The most expensive item on the guides are the 'Hyper Sine Earrings' which are priced at US $37,600 (Rs 28,31,821). You can view more products here from the guides.
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2. APPLE
One of the new Apple products released this quater includes an Apple cloth which is described as 'Made with soft, non-abrasive material, the Polishing Cloth cleans any Apple display, including nano-texture glass, safely and effectively', and is priced at US $19 and for Rs 1,900 in India. The Holiday gift collection includes a '41mm Clover Sport Band - Regular' that is available for US $49 and for Rs 3,900 in India, and an 'iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe' for US $59 and for Rs 5,500 in India.
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3. TESLA
Elon Musk announced the Tesla 'Cyberwhistle', which is priced at US $50 (Rs 3,770), and is described as "Inspired by Cybertruck, the limited-edition Cyberwhistle is a premium collectible made from medical-grade stainless steel with a polished finish. The whistle includes an integrated attachment feature for added versatility" on the Tesla website. The wesite also says that the product is on final sale and will not be stocked again (thank God... err, Musk for that).
Blow the whistle on Tesla!https://t.co/c86hLA0iQK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 1, 2021
Which one did you think is the most ridiculous?