Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand SKIMS says it will offer refunds to customers who purchased its $148 (CAD $210) advent calendar after the company faced criticism over the quality of the Christmas gifts inside.
The calendar, which includes a range of small accessories, was marketed as containing “twelve days of fun surprises” according to the BBC, but is filled mostly with hair ties, keychains, small ornaments and bobby pins, according to media reports and online reviews.
Some internet critics likened its contents to the sort of miscellaneous items a person finds stuffed between couch cushions or underneath an oven; one person online suggested that Kardashian had filled them with items she “cleared out her car.”
In a TikTok review of the calendar, which has been watched more than eight million times, a person in the comments called the product a “box full of pranks,” while someone else wrote it was “disrespectful to customers” to fill such a steeply priced item with only cheap knickknacks.
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“I could go in my daughter’s room each day and find this sh*t laying on her bedroom floor,” another person commented.
Meanwhile, in another unboxing TikTok with over 22 million views, influencer Kayla Ryan said the calendar was “starting to p*ss her off” while filming herself unwrapping what she described as “scraps from the warehouse.”
“I hope nobody buys this calendar…this is terrible…zero out of ten,” she said.
The calendar is currently out of stock according to the company’s website.
Since the backlash, a representative for the company told NBC’s Today.com that it would refund customers who purchased the calendar and said it was “aware of the feedback.”
“For some, the calendar didn’t meet expectations,” the statement continued, a Washington affiliate of the U.S. news agency reported.
“We have personally contacted every customer who purchased the calendar and offered them a choice of a full refund or a SKIMS credit to put towards other products.”
“We want every customer to be truly happy with what they receive from SKIMS. Their feedback matters to us and will directly shape how we approach future releases,” the statement concluded.
Global News contacted SKIMS but did not receive a response.
Amy Odell, a fashion journalist and author, told the New York Times that given the price of the calendar, SKIMS customers would have been expecting the items inside to be worth far more than they actually were, but that the product prioritizes aesthetics over substance.
“It’s like the brands are designing them for social media more so than the customer,” Odell said. “And celebrity brands are always going to be a flashpoint. This is perfect internet catnip: Kim Kardashian, SKIMS, advent calendars, and then, you know, junk within the advent calendar.”
These types of expensive advent calendars, which have also been produced by designers including Dior and Chanel, are “seasonal examples” of greedflation, Odell explained, which is when brands lean on inflation to raise prices “without providing the value in return.”
SKIMS was co-founded in 2019 by Kim Kardashian, Jens Grede, and Emma Grede and initially launched as a shapewear and underwear brand.
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