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Foolproof White Elephant Gift Guide: A sure-fire way to buy the best random gifts and be the life of the party.
Yay. It’s a party full of people you might not like but happen to work with or be related to.
AND you have to buy an anonymous gift.
The typical summary is this – but not in such witty terms:
White Elephant Gifts: The White Plaster Wall of Presents
Yes. They are known to be uninspired, generic and lifeless products masquerading as presents. Yet, none of us want that! You want a fun gift exchange. You want someone to unwrap your gift and the crowd to burst out in excitement or laughter.
Let’s solve this riddle and make you the life of the party. Literally. Because everyone is guzzling coffee to stay conscious. White elephant gifts can be unique, original, entertaining and funny. In fact, that’s what we all secretly hope we’re unwrapping.
Even if you’re family or workplace are doing these gatherings over Zoom now, white elephant gift exchanges aren’t going anywhere. They’re a pastime cemented in America’s social fabric, like… ordering pizza and the kind of football that involves catching.
So how did white elephant gifts get such a bad rap and become a snooze fest instead of a celebration? Simple – it’s hard to find a gift to give to a random person, so we “play it safe.” Lifeless, plain Jane gifts become the norm instead of amusing, exciting products. We’ve all suffered through opening a blank set of coffee mugs, or endless vanilla candles. Sure they function, but does anyone really want that? Not on my watch.
Now there’s a solution to make any white elephant gift exchange a hoot, so we can actually enjoy the festivities. There are a lot of pitfalls built into white elephant parties, but rest assured my friend, we can avoid every sand trap and swing for the fences. This foolproof guide to buying the best white elephant gift every time will help you do just that.
Whether it’s a virtual party or in person, gifts let us laugh, react and fraternize all in the name of a good time. And we need that. We all want to socialize, enjoy the high life, forget our problems, and have a kick ass time.
Read the Room: Know Your Environment
When it comes to anonymous gift exchanges, we often feel like we’re driving blind. How do you pick the right gift for anyone? We start by reading the room. When you know the environment and atmosphere – you’ll be able to determine the best, most appropriate gift to win them over.
Some of you have light-hearted families, or really goofy friends. Others, not so much. Some of us have funny work environments, where gags, jest and jokes are encouraged. And some of us work in uptight settings, unfortunately. (If you have to dry clean all your clothing and silently nod at everything five days a week, I feel you and I’m sorry.) Whatever the case may be, the perfect, previously elusive white elephant gift exists and we’ll find it with you.
First: Is this a work, friends, or family gathering?
The culture of a cohort falls into 4 basic camps:
– Uptight, polite and professional
– Business casual, allowing a little humor
– Adventurous, fun-loving and relaxed
– Goofy, outlandish, and seeking uproarious laughter
Once you know which camp they fall into, you’re ready to get your gift on.
If the atmosphere is high-strung, ultra polite, or super PC – it’s not worth the gamble by bringing a weird, crazy random gift to the party. Trust me. Aunt Linda and Uncle Joe don’t want a cat butt coloring book, despite your best intentions.
On the other hand, if the environment is chill and jovial, where cracking jokes is encouraged, you can loosen things up with a more bizarre, comical present. There’s nothing like lighting up a room with a surprising, quirky gift. You know you’ve knocked it out of the park when your gift is so amazing, it makes everyone in the room feel better, not just the recipient.
Themed White Elephant Gifts
So now you know the “who” of the group and which camp they fall into.
Armed with this priceless intel, we can consider what universal themes, subjects or hobbies will appeal to them. You can also use the occasion, like a Halloween or Christmas party, as your theme.
What does your company do or make? From taxes to trucks to tacos, there are endless products that revolve around that vocational theme.
You probably have a tradition in your family, or with your buddies, where you watch or talk about certain topics. These days you can find gifts revolving around just about anything.
Common ones include: Being loyal to a football team and bickering about their games. Or a movie you watch annually together because you love it or love to hate it. Or TV shows everyone’s into discussing, say The Boys or Raised by Wolves or the incompetence of the Game of Thrones finale. Maybe everyone partakes in Bingo, Chess, Monopoly, playing card games, or Scrabble religiously. You get the idea.
Work with what you do know. You’ll be well on your way. I guarantee someone’s going to love a themed gift at that gathering.
Creative Gifts Will Win Them Over
Remember those generic, blank coffee mugs and candles that put you to sleep? We can step it up a notch by going the creative route, and suddenly cups and candles become a commodity.
Creative white elephant gifts are ideal for those uptight gatherings or when you’re in unfamiliar territory (in-laws, new job, etc.). In these situations, you can’t paint outside the lines too much, but imaginative or craft-oriented products are applauded. Ditch the safe gift for a satisfying, creative one.
There are DIY mug kits they can decorate themselves as well as chalkboard cups everybody loves. How about candles based on every topic imaginable, including unique scents for each holiday. You know everyone is STILL addicted to pumpkin spice latte’s, so get a candle replica and call it a day. People love food shaped and object shaped candles… for some reason. They will fight over these things! Oh I’ve seen it and it’s hilarious.
Surprise Gifts Are Side-Splitting Fun
Deep down, most of us want this option. After all, presents and parties are about surprises. The anticipation of not knowing what you’re gonna get and the excitement of an unexpected treasure in your mitts.
Surprise gifts are bursting with entertainment value. Even cool candles can’t… hold a candle to unexpected, unconventional items. Why? We don’t want predictable, we want peculiar and interesting. If you can pull it off without getting canned, this is the route to take my friend.
Case in point: Who doesn’t want an inflatable dinosaur costume? They have to be crazy to resist that. I promise someone will steal that gift to get their hands on it.
Plus: If you’re shy or want to get to know more people in a social circle, buying an exciting, unexpected gift will spark up conversation and intrigue. “Where did you find that? What a great idea! That’s so interesting. I’m glad you came. What’s your name?” They’ll want to get to know you more and they should, cause you’re awesome.
Funny Gifts: Match the Mood
While you have lots of leeway in this category for those playful group gatherings, you also have options for the politer or professional crowds too. Smiles are always wanted. The trick is to use humor appropriately to match the mood.
Funny gifts breathe new life into a dull activity, especially random gift parties where everyone is wishing they were watching paint dry instead of participating. Once you throw a random gift into the mix that spices things up, we start having a good time. Snickering, smirking, covering their mouths or eyes, letting out little yelps, these are all good signs when it comes to humorous anonymous gift giving.
Whether you’re an analyst, sales person, programmer, you name it – there are endless funny items to share. And they range from innocent and inoffensive to outlandishly absurd and blush worthy. Office supply items like adult achievement stickers or a triple “denied” stamp bring a smile and make work life a little easier. Not to mention all the sarcastic t-shirts, hats and posters you can build rapport with.
Jokes, gags and absurd American gifts have been around forever. We can just do it better now, because we have so many options at our disposal. Bust out that fun gift and be the ruler of the white elephants.
Don’t Go Overpriced. Go Original.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the biggest white elephant gift pitfall to avoid: Bringing an egregiously overpriced gift to the party.
Random gift exchanges usually have a cap set for the amount of money to spend, or at least an understanding that we’re not blowing our whole paychecks here. It will cost you a pretty penny, in more ways than one, if you ignore this rule.
Now if it’s a 5 buck gift exchange and you spend 10 dollars, it’s not a big deal. But if you blow 50 bucks, it makes you the bad guy. Maybe you were trying to be generous, nice or impressive. But bringing an overpriced anonymous gift will backfire big time. Here’s why:
You look like you’re trying too hard. You’re showing up the other people, who now feel bad about their meager offerings. And you come off as someone who doesn’t play fair because you didn’t follow the rules everyone else abided by.
It’s true that you don’t want to look cheap, but going the other extreme actually has worse consequences. So play by the rules and get the coolest white elephant gift based on the strategy outlined here. You’ll make a great impression, stir up excitement, and stand out in the crowd.
Conclusion
There you have it, folks. White elephant gifts don’t have to be awful anymore. You might just pull a good number during the gift exchange and take home the amazing present you brought to the party. Better yet, you can share this foolproof strategy with others and we can all go home happy.
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