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Secret Santa – how do you stop it getting weird?

ended 25. November 2025

Secret Santa can be brilliant… or a bit of a nightmare.

All it takes is one “funny” gift that’s actually a bit personal or awkward, and suddenly no one’s laughing. Been there?

I’m putting together something to help small teams keep it fun without it turning into a passive-aggressive gift swap.

So tell me:

  • Do you set any ground rules to stop it going off the rails?
  • Ever had a gift that made you cringe?
  • What are your top 3 safe-but-not-boring Secret Santa gifts under a tenner? (Bonus points if it is from a small business)

Looking for real stories, solid ideas, and things that don’t end in a complaint or weird vibes. Bonus points for funny fails.

Hit reply and share yours – the good, the bad, and the “we don’t talk about that year."

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Kate Underwood
Founder & Chief People Strategist at Kate Underwood HR and Training
Working in HR, you can imagine — by the time January hits, the Secret Santa stories are already coming in thick and fast. Some are harmless. Some… less so.

One of my favourite cringe moments. Someone thought it would be hilarious to gift their colleague a framed photo of the office kettle with the caption “The real MVP.” Turns out the person had just put in a grievance about never getting enough breaks. Top-tier awkward. Ten out of ten for creativity, zero for timing.

This is exactly why we always suggest setting a few clear rules. Keep the budget sensible, avoid anything too personal, and if it needs a warning label or explanation, maybe skip it.

A few safe but still fun ideas I’ve seen work well are things like mini plants with daft names, hot chocolate kits, or something mildly geeky like a desktop puzzle. Small, useful, and no one ends up offended.

Secret Santa should be fun, not the start of your January workload.
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Kate Allen
Owner at Finest Stays
I’ve always thought a good Secret Santa should cause a giggle, and not take itself too seriously, which is hardly a corporate stance. A couple of years ago, we did an office Secret Santa. I bought one of those retro 80s biros where a fully dressed man ends up stark naked when you turn it upside down. Hilarious (to me), except I mixed up my recipient. Instead of it landing with the cheeky colleague who’d have howled with laughter, it went to a very straight bloke. I awkwardly supped my mulled wine in the corner and kept shtum.
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Dr Marianne Trent
Clinical Psychologist at Good Thinking Psychology
Someone in an old workplace once bought all the women in the office a single rose. It looked sweet… until we realised it wasn’t a fake flower at all, but a rolled-up pair of red lace crotchless knickers. Awks........
At another job, the company “gift” one year was a pair of very cheap fluffy socks and a single gold chocolate coin. Honestly, I’d have preferred they kept the pound and put it in my pay packet instead! The socks went straight to the charity shop in an outraged huff!