October 2024. A motley fauna crowds, despite the pouring rain, into the Danysz street Art gallery in Paris. It must be said that this is a special opening: the launch of the Advent calendar by Marc Dorcel, the specialist in adult videos. In this large box signed by the Obvious collective, sex toys, heating gels, handcuffs, a naughty gift to discover, every day, until Christmas! But erotic toys are not the only ones to invest in Advent calendars.
Wine lovers will find a (small) bottle per day in Flakon. The same goes for beer, sausage, nail polish, magic, coffee, tea, herbal teas, household items, but also toys, which appeared in stores from the 2000s: from Lego to Playmobil in through Barbie, Disney or Minecraft, all the major brands have invested in the vein. Without forgetting cosmetics: Yves Rocher, Oh my Cream, Sisley, Clarins, or multi-brands, Sephora or Marionnaud.
Sold out unsold items
We are far from the calendar with religious images, created in 1908 by a Munich publisher, or even its more pagan version, launched by chocolate brands. Price-wise, you can find everything: a few euros for supermarket calendars, around thirty for toys, wines cost 100 euros, Marc Dorcel asks 149 euros for his erotic toys, Dior offers his “trunk of dreams” at 2,900 euros (out of stock), while the Mont Blanc pen manufacturer is selling its box set for 5,100 euros!
“The Advent calendar is no longer reserved for children, even adults collect them,” explains the site www.callendrierdelavent.com which brings together several hundred different models. “It has become a promotional tool for the brand, a different way to get people talking about it. But, above all, a way to dispose of stocks of unsold products,” says a former Sephora employee.
Art, sex and Europe!
For others, the calendar is a way to offer a different image: Marc Dorcel has teamed up with the artists from Obvious to talk about pleasure in a less crude, more poetic way. “It’s inspiring for artists to create something well done, in a field that didn’t necessarily attract them,” explains Magda Danysz, director of the eponymous gallery.
“We play on an object that is kept, more precious, and most Advent calendars are evolving into collector's items, which we can display, with small drawers which can be used again later. It's more sustainable, more eco-friendly. » Even politics gets involved since Isabelle Le Callennec, member of the European Parliament and regional councilor in Brittany, will unveil, on December 1st, a somewhat special Advent calendar: with one day, information on the Europe. The magic of Christmas is definitely everywhere!
