Kim Kardashian's SKIMS accessories Advent calendar sparks controversy: "I can get these at Dollar Tree"

As content creators unboxed this year's Advent calendar from SKIMS, the apparel company founded by Kim Kardashian, their TikTok videos showed excitement quickly turning into frustration.

"This is starting to piss me off," said one TikTok creator while "unboxing" the Advent calendar in a video. "I can get these at Dollar Tree."

"I'm so mad about this. I could literally go all day," a different creator said of the calendar in a separate TikTok video, while yet another determined that it "actually is the worst Advent calendar to ever exist."

The calendar is sold out on the SKIMS website, where interested consumers are encouraged to join a waitlist for a future batch of orders. It is billed as a holiday gift box "featuring twelve days of fun surprises" and "everyday favorites," per the website's description. 

It includes four keychains, various hair bands, bobby pins and a SKIMS squishy, all of which are exclusive to the box. But customers say it's not worth the $148 price tag.

SKIMS is part of a growing trend where brands are turning Advent calendars from a simple holiday tradition into expensive gift sets, which capitalize on the online excitement around "unboxing." The social media trend involves creators, as the name suggests, opening boxes of items and either trying them on or simply flashing them in front of the camera for their followers to see.

Retail expert Trae Bodge, who co-founded the Thread Needle Alley Foundation, says popular toy companies, beauty retailers and brands, and even luxury designers like Christian Louboutin are putting high price tags on their own Advent calendars. While Bodge says the products can be "a great opportunity" for brands "to create an experience" for their consumers, some of their sets of little doors may not be worth the hype.

"[Louboutin] may make a good, classy high-heeled shoe, but they do not make a classy Advent calendar," said Bodge. "Please don't waste your money on this."

Two years ago, it was Sephora that drew criticism for its trinket-filled Advent calendar, which some customers branded as "disappointing" at the time.

Now, after the online outrage over its Advent calendar, SKIMS said it would offer customers a refund or store credit. Bodge said other brands may be able to learn a valuable lesson from the controversy.

"With social media being such a big factor with gift-giving, you've got to kind of think that through as a brand, you know, 'am I creating something that's gonna hold up well on a TikTok?'" Bodge said.