Christmas is a great excuse to get coverage for your company – a point which was unintentionally made astoundingly clear in the Daily Star last week, in a story with perhaps the most PR-per-inch of any I’ve ever seen.
Dear Santa, I got the sack! Shocking stats reveal the truth behind Christmas parties
BRITS are in for a wild Christmas – and we’re likely to be saucier than ever.
So far, so innocuous.
A whopping one in three of us admit to being ready for a one-night stand after a few glasses of mulled wine, according to a survey for condom brand Skins.
OK – so we have, “You need condoms at the office party!” says condom manufacturer.
1 in six of us will do the walk of shame after a festive shindig – turning up at work in the same clothes we went out in the day before, according to Hotels.com.
“You need a place to stay after the office party!” says hotel company (Daily Mail, 12th December 2011)
5 glasses of wine are knocked back by the average female party-goer. A man will have 11!
This stat, alas, eluded my research.
6 % of us have spilt food or drink over a colleague at an Xmas bash and the same number have revealed something embarrassing.
This claim actually came from a YouGov poll – it’s unclear if there was a client attached to it.
10% of us have been disciplined or dismissed for our naughty antics at a Christmas work party, says ashleymadison.com.
“People have sex and affairs at the office party!” says extra-marital dating website (Daily Mail, 10th December 2012)
13% of us have stripped off at a Christmas party, according to IllicitEncounters.com.
“People have sex and affairs at the office party!” says extra-marital dating website (Daily Star, 11th December 2012)
25 pounds are spent by the average woman on sexy undies for the party, with 52% admitting to blowing at least £30 on padded bras, says Asda.
“Better buy some new underwear for the office party!” says supermarket clothing department (Daily Mail, 10th December 2012)
31% of us have snogged a colleague at the party, a poll by Lovehoney found. And for a fifth of those who locked lips, the moment led to a relationship.
“People have sex at the office party!” says sex toy retailer (Daily Mail, 20th November 2012)
32% of us admit to fantasising about having sex with a work colleague. Women are especially likely to dream about a boss, according to the Skins poll.
“People want to have sex with someone at the office party!” says condom manufacturer.
38% of us would get saucy with someone without even knowing their name.
Alas, much as the name of your sauce-partner remains anonymous, so did the source of this stat, despite my searching.
45 to 54 is the age group most likely to get amorous at the festivities, according to travel and treats website lastminute.com.
“You need a place to stay after the office party!” says hotel company (Mirror, 22nd November 2010)
50% of people in Northern Ireland admit to having a one-night stand after a boozy evening, a survey showed.
Alas, another stat source eludes me.
66% of us think that a kiss under the mistletoe at the Christmas work do is OK, according to TGI Fridays.
This stat rechurns a 2011 story from the Huffington Post, which is essentially: “You might get a nice snog at your Christmas Party!” says restaurant taking party bookings.
76% of blokes make sure they are wearing their best underpants to the party.
This particular story was put out by Debenhams in February 2011: “It’s important that men wear nice underwear!” says underwear retailer
206 pounds are spent by the average female member of staff on their party outfit, according to figures from Indesit.
“Women’s clothes are expensive, so it’s important they’re well looked-after!” says washing machine manufacturer (Telegraph, 1st December 2010)
11million of us will go to a work Christmas party.
Another from Lastminute.com, this time going back as far as December 2009.
265 million pints of alcohol will be knocked back by Brits this December.
Taken from a poll conducted by charity Drinkaware (Daily Star, 10th December 2009).
740 million pounds is the total cost to British business for the nation’s hangover after Christmas
This claim was taken from a survey conducted in December 2012 by hotel firm Travelodge, presumably proving they can handle large sums (of course, elsewhere in the survey they covered their main talking point – their offer of a free makeover for female guests staying in a Travelodge hotel for a Christmas party).
All things considered, its quite a PR-dense databurst from the Daily Star, and an excellent illustration of the fact that once a story is out there, it bobs back to the surface time and again, sometimes losing the original commercial enterprise attached to it – making it harder and harder to identify as advertising.
Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks – this year’s batch are undoubtedly on their way.