Just because it’s the holiday season doesn’t mean everyone is feeling jolly — especially one beauty fan who just spent nearly a thousand dollars for a Chanel advent calendar she now dubs a “joke.”
TikTok star Elise Harmon couldn’t have been more excited to receive her Chanel advent calendar earlier this month, but her happiness quickly vanished when she realized just what was inside that costly gift. In a series of unboxing videos shared to social media, Elise showed off the luxurious calendar which was packaged to look like the brand’s famous No. 5 perfume. She shared:
“Am I crazy? Absolutely, but I’ve never seen a Chanel advent calendar, so let’s see if it’s worth the hype.”
First appearances put her wallet at ease, she noted:
“We’ll give them a 10/10 for packaging.”
But here’s where things took a turn for the worse.
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She was quickly disappointed to see the calendar began on day five, rather than day one (though moved past that flaw by assuming it was done to honor the fragrance). She first opened day nine because it looked most “promising.” Well… it wasn’t! She explained:
“This is a joke! Stickers?”
Box eight was just as baffling: an empty dust bag! She complained:
“I can’t make this up.”
Box 24 included a tiny flip-book which the influencer couldn’t even give the time of day, she teased:
“Okay, well, we’re moving on.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t all a bust. The calendar did come with a bottle of the brand’s No. 5 On Hand Cream, Rouge Allure lipstick, and a mini jar of body cream — though not even enough to cover her left arm. She also unboxed a magnet, a string bracelet, a money clip, a mini mirror, more lipstick, a paperweight, and a key chain. If most of these sound like promotional items you usually get free with purchase, it’s because they are!
Watch the whole devastating unboxing (below)!
@eliseharmon Worth the hype? Probably not but it is pretty
♬ It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas – Michael Bublé
@eliseharmon Part 5 I am barely hanging on over here y’all
@eliseharmon I’ll lay everything out and show you all of the contents and you can tell me if you think it’s worth it #chaneladventcalendar
That might just be worse than receiving coal for Christmas! She paid HOW MUCH money for this??? Oh yeah, $825! Not cool, Chanel!
Fans couldn’t wrap their heads around the baffling advent calendar or the ridiculous price for the cheap gifts, writing:
“The bracelet made out of STRING!! I’m crying.”
“Even the Costco Dog Advent Calendar is better than this.”
“The audacity of stickers”
“Chanel should be embarrassed”
“Not them putting free samples in an advent calendar”
“Fyre Fest of advent calendars”
“My jaw dropped at the flip book how are they getting away with this”
Seriously, how??
After her post went viral, Harmon alleged in a different upload that the beauty brand had “blocked” her account on TikTok. Other users claimed the company straight-up deleted their profile amid the mess. Ready to defend themselves, Chanel released an official statement arguing the claims are “absolutely inaccurate,” stating:
“We have never blocked access to the Chanel TikTok account to anyone, because it is simply not active. It has never been activated, no content has ever been published, it has no subscriber and no subscription. The page therefore appears empty to anyone who visits it.”
The brand also added:
“When Ms. Harmon visited our page, she naturally found the usual message that she could not access this account, just like anyone else on the network.”
OK, fair enough. But what does the company have to say about the way overpriced sham? Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, told WWD:
“This controversy is a bit of a shame because it was not what Chanel intended. Chanel thought it would please some of its customers by offering this type of product. Evidently, we see that you have to be careful and therefore, in the future, we will certainly be much more cautious.”
Wait, what?? That’s it? “Oh, we thought people would like spending hundreds on crap”?
When asked if this was the company’s first time making an advent calendar, he admitted:
“No, I don’t think so, but it wasn’t necessarily for sale.”
To clarify, he means it was only produced on a limited run and was already sold out. But that still means it was for sale — and they took $825 from those (un)lucky few customers who managed to snag one of the rare products.
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Gregoire Audidier, International Communication & Client Experience Strategy Director at Chanel Fragrance & Beauty also told People on Monday that customers shouldn’t have been surprised about the calendar’s contents, explaining:
“The advent calendar was a limited edition item specially created by CHANEL to celebrate the 100 years of N°5. Directly inspired by the mythical silhouette of the N°5 bottle, the collector’s item and the contents included are detailed on our website, chanel.com.”
The contents are detailed now, but to be fair, it’s unclear what information was available to Elise or other customers at the time of purchase. And it obviously wasn’t highlighted enough that it wasn’t a TOTAL SHOCK! Hoping to get off the naughty list next year, Bruno mused:
“Certainly, next time, we will think of another way to do this type of thing. I think that certain categories of products may be more suitable, in particular, beauty — that could be a great idea. In any case, the objective is to promote our products and not to trigger any controversy, and even less to create frustrations or to send the wrong signals.”
Yeah. We’re not so sure many people will be taking a chance on Chanel’s advent calendar again, at least not anywhere near that price!
Reactions, Precious readers? Does Elise have a right to be made at Chanel? Or was it her fault for expecting more from the holiday box?
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