A Dior calendar for $11K? Here’s how the humble advent calendar has gone bananas

LISTEN | H ow a religious symbol became another way to part with your cash : Cost of Living 5:47 When Christ meets consumerism

Though its origins are religious, you probably know the advent calendar as a humble grocery-store product that features chocolates hidden behind 24 perforated cardboard doors.

That sugary countdown to Christmas dates back to the 1950s when the first chocolate versions came on the scene. Cadbury started mass marketing them in 1971 as tools to engage children with the Christian tradition of Advent, says Canadian marketing expert Robert Warren, who closely follows Christmas trends.

“What we’ve seen now is it’s become grossly commercialized,” said Warren, who currently teaches marketing at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

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