Friday, December 21, 2012

58,504 Santas in 126 Countries Spread Joy Through redditgifts



This year is the 4th Secret Santa exchange from redditgifts and the holiday generosity and creativity has now spread to almost 60,000 participants in almost every corner of the globe, making us a shoo-in for another Guinness World Record. Here's the stats so far for the 2012 Secret Santa and Holiday Greeting Card Exchange:

  • Almost 2 million dollars spent in gifts & shipping
  • Almost 11,000 people in 90 countries participated in the greeting card exchange

Here are a few of the highlights from this year's magical gifts:



This year many Santas chose to donate to charity in the name of their recipient. Here's one example from a Danish Santa who made a donation on behalf of his recipient to UNICEF, which funded a survival package for two children in Angola, containing blankets, mosquito nets, water treatment tablets, nutritious food and life-saving vaccines.

One of the best parts of Secret Santa is the good-natured stalking that Santas do to find just the right gift for their recipient. This Santa was quite the detective, and was able to deduce the perfect, and "potentially life-changing gifts" including a artificial sunlight lamp that can help with seasonal depression.

Some of our favorite gifts this year were ones that Santas sent to their recipient's kids. Here's one that send a Radio-Fyler big wheel and another that sent an awesome telescope to introduce a 7-year-old to science.

This year we also had some impressive food gifts, including a massive slab of bacon and 22 pounds of potatoes

We had some beautiful and funny greeting cards sent in the card exchange, but a card from a sick child in the hospital and a card that's made for ants were our favorites (so far)

This year we also introduced the redditgifts Marketplace to make it easier for redditors and secret santas to find great presents and as a way for small (or large) companies to get their glorious wares in front of other redditors. It's brand new, but we are devoted to making the marketplace the best destination on the internet to find upvote-inspiring gifts for everyone. Check out the top products and make sure you check out the reddit store in the marketplace.
We also have a classy limited edition snoo embossed journal from Miro that just came out (get it now, there's only a handful left!).  
TL;DR: 58,504 santas, 126 countries, & 22 pounds of potatoes.
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