It is hard to see a way around a poorly wrapped gift; the very nature of gift-wrapping at Christmas is individual and secretive.
That's why a woman online, bad at gift-wrapping, asked her wife to wrap her own gifts—but blindfolded. The surprising results, captured in a TikTok video, went viral with almost 1 million likes.
"POV [point of view]: You suck at wrapping presents and don't want to ruin the aesthetic, so your wife wraps her own presents blindfolded," the creator, Jadyn, captioned the video. "Guess that's one way to do it." Newsweek reached out @jharbs_ for comment via TikTok.
Many viewers in the comments were astounded at how well Jadyn's wife actually did. Feeling her way around the edges of the gifts and cutting the appropriate amount of paper seemed a task impossible to do without sight.
"As long as she didn't mind and was cool with it then that's awesome, but I'm still stuck on how the heck she can wrap that well blindfolded," @madicado207 wrote.
"I think this is a great idea," @localpizzaboy_ said. "I wrap my presents blind, and you wrap yours blind and you get to try and figure out what it is while you wrap."
And while some people were advocates of the poorly wrapped gift and its character, many also saw the value in maintaining a Christmas "aesthetic" that communicated precision and effort.
"Everyone who is mad at this doesn't understand the importance of the aesthetic," @sarriouslyy posted. "I will now ask my fiance to let me do this! Fun for me who likes to wrap gifts and fun little date night."
The Importance of Gift-Wrapping
Jadyn's video has sparked laughter—and debate—about the aesthetics of Christmas. But how much do wrapping skills really matter?
A 2019 study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology revealed that, in some ways, it matters quite a bit. Researchers found that presentation of a gift can shape the recipient's expectations in unexpected ways. The research found that neatly wrapped gifts create higher expectations, which can lead to disappointment if the gift doesn't meet those elevated hopes.
On the other hand, sloppily wrapped gifts set the bar lower, often leading to greater satisfaction when the actual gift exceeds those modest expectations.
So, the issue of gift-wrapping might be less of aesthetics and more of expectations—how you wrap a gift might influence how it is received emotionally, no matter what's inside.
English (US) ·