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As teenagers, my friends and I were notorious for giving one another fake gifts on birthdays. These typically consisted of something that seemed lame on the surface — a pack of gum, for instance — but once the quietly disappointed giftee actually opened it, they discovered that every piece of gum in the 20-pack had been artfully replaced with a folded-up dollar bill. If you think this sort of thing sounds like fun but you’re too lazy to make your own fake packaging, The Onion has been making fake gift boxes for the last few years, and they’re hilarious. Here are a few of our favorites.
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USB toaster is listed twice is this your little way of hinting to your readers you want one for your next birthday?
posted by Charles on 6-24-2009 at 11:47 am
Salt of the Month clubs actually exist.
posted by Jacquilynne on 6-24-2009 at 12:40 pm
A few years ago, my family starting playing “Dirty Santa” instead of drawing names for Christmas (as we had for years). My 11-year-old cousin’s contribution was a huge jar of marshmallow fluff. Of course, nobody wanted it, and finally my aunt got stuck with it. What nobody realized, of course, was that hidden inside the fluff was a gift card. Smart kid! Fake gifting – fun for all involved!
posted by Lynley on 6-24-2009 at 1:10 pm
Hey guys, how about gifting us readers with a link to the site? I surfed over to the onion and found they don’t seem to carry half of those boxes anymore.
Thanks!
posted by Jim on 6-24-2009 at 1:13 pm
Martha Stewart actually dedicated an entire segment on her show to all of these different salts (Table, Sea & Kosher from different locals around the world) and how to use them.
posted by CropTillDawn on 6-24-2009 at 1:20 pm
no seriously…
https://www.thegreenbeanco.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GBC-S-SOM
posted by Steve on 6-24-2009 at 2:21 pm
@ Lynley
- That CAN’T be sanitary.
Recaptcha : the scrunch
posted by Jonny on 6-24-2009 at 2:38 pm
I always love the Giant box/tiny present confusion… I save large and irregular boxes and mix it up as to who has the gag present each year.
This year, I had a surprise gift of tickets to see Up for someone and I got a huge box and put a red helium-filled balloon inside. I refused to let anyone else carry the box and pretended it was heavy and fragile. It was awesome to see their faces when the balloon floated up from the box.
posted by ac on 6-24-2009 at 3:22 pm
The very first Christmas that my mom spent with my dad’s family, my grandpa gave her what appeared to be a box of Ritz crackers. She wanted to make a good impression, so she pretended to be happy & opened the box. Not only had he put a nice shirt inside the box and glued it shut, he had opened up one of the wax paper tubes, but the shirt in the middle, and put crackers on either end. My first Christmas being in the adult draw was this year, and Grandpa did the same thing to me.
posted by Sam on 6-24-2009 at 3:39 pm
@Jonny – the gift was wrapped in plastic wrap. Kid thought of everything ;0)
posted by Lynley on 6-24-2009 at 8:52 pm
That would be the gift card was wrapped in plastic wrap. Duh.
posted by Lynley on 6-24-2009 at 8:53 pm
Put gift in round metal tin.
Cover tin with aluminum foil.
put it on a plate and cover it with icing.
You now have the infamous “fake cake” – allow the recipient to “cut” it with a regular table knife.
Once they stop trying to cut it, tell them the gift is inside.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 6-25-2009 at 12:03 am