Walking around the office with a giant Walkers crispadvent calendar certainly earned me some funny looks.
There were those who rushed over to ask where they could get one, a few did a double take, and one person even shook their head at me. They were probably just jealous…
These mixed reactions mimicked those of shoppers online when they first discovered the £10 festive product on the shelves in Iceland supermarkets.
It proved somewhat controverisal, as some crisp fans claimed it was their ‘dream’ and they ‘needed’ to buy it, while others were flabbergasted by the price and thought it was ‘stupid’ and ‘robbery’.
Now that I’ve got my hands on one, I thought I’d have a little look to see what’s inside, and whether it’s worth the price tag. Here are my honest thoughts…
In my opinion, there’s one major issue with this advent calendar, and it’s not the £10 price tag.
We already know you can get 24 packs of Walkers crisps for less than a tenner – a multi-pack of 12 from Ocado or Tesco currently costs £3, so for 24 packets you’d be looking at £6. Essentially you’re paying £4 more for the cardboard box (plus other costs associated with producing this product).
People pay through the roof for Christmas products every year though, there’s always a bit of a premium, so this is to be expected. But what I didn’t expect was what I found inside.
With 24 doors to open, there’s a lot of fun Walkers could have had with this product, as they have an extensive flavour collection. There could have been something different every day, but they’ve clearly opted to play it safe on this occasion.
Instead of lots of surprises, the calendar contains six of each of the four classic flavours: Ready Salted, Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, and Prawn Cocktail.
What about the barbecue flavour from the 90s they recently resurrected? Where’s the Smoky Bacon, or even Roast Chicken as it’s Christmas. They could have even gone all out with special festive crisps.
It just feels like a bit of a missed opportunity really. I know some people will adore the classics and be happy with what’s inside, but for me, it’s just boring.
But there is one saving grace to the whole thing – I opened a few doors and December 1 didn’t contain Ready Salted, which in my opinion would have been a tragic way to kick off the festive season.
For those curious, Salt & Vinegar was behind door number one, followed by Ready Salted for day 2, Prawn Cocktail on day 3, and Ready Salted on day 4.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.