With Christmas just around the corner, families around the world are getting ready for the season of hypercommercialism and over-spending on all holiday gifts. The perfect present can be tricky to nail, but some gifts are simply excusable. Below you’ll find a compiled list of some of the worst presents Northwestern students have ever received.

Pillow with my face on it
“On my birthday in the past summer, my best friend gave me a pillow with my face on it. He thought it would be funny to print a selfie of us on something you can hold tightly at night. He wanted to make it crunchy on purpose. He even put “BFFL” on it, like “best friend for life.” The pillow was not wrapped. He just ordered it online and gave me the whole package. Why would I want my face on a pillow? Now I go to sleep with my head resting on my face.” — Jennifer Ibarra, McCormick freshman

Weird scented soap
“My secret Santa last year gave me some Christmas holiday soap. The scents include cinnamon caramel, vanilla bean and sugared lemon zest. I guess the idea was to make everything more festive, but why do people want themselves to smell like food?” — Rasa Kerelis, Weinberg sophomore

Clorox wipes
“I went to a summer camp when I was little. I always had to wipe something down and write something on the blackboard. Somehow I ended up getting associated with it. When the teacher did a slideshow of us at the end of the summer camp, almost every single one of me was holding Clorox wipes. I don’t know why I was wiping down so much. It just happened to be so many photos taken. when my friend later gave me the Clorox wipes, I got the inside joke, but still was pretty sad about how weird I was.” — Madina Jenks, Weinberg junior

Big Mac
“I got a Big Mac meal from my brother as my Sweet 16th birthday gift. Have you ever gotten McDonald’s for a birthday present? He told me to be excited for my birthday, and that’s what he gave me. But honestly, it tasted good.” — Chanhyun Jo, Bienen freshman

Phone case
“I got a hideous phone case from my friend. The worst part is, it didn’t even fit my phone.” —
Rikki Pan, McCormick freshman

Soccer jersey
“I got a soccer jersey for my 18th birthday. It’s Lionel Messi’s Argentina jersey. I was so happy to receive it because he’s my favorite player and I was planning on supporting Argentina during the 2018 World Cup. But the team did terribly during the tournament and really disappointed me. Every time I look at it I am reminded of the sorrow of that tournament and because of that, I consider it the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s a really nice jersey and I get a lot of compliments when I wear it, but it evokes bad memories too.” — Alpesh Chapagai, Weinberg freshman

Correction: A previous version of this story included a quote from a student without their permission. The quote was removed. The Daily regrets the error.

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