DR adds Christmas calendar cards, raising concerns over pressure on families

DR is launching collectible cards for its Christmas calendar this year, alongside a similar TV 2 promotion, prompting concerns that the collections could add pressure on families during an already costly season, DR reports.

TV 2 cards are available through Salling Group stores, including Føtex, Bilka and BR. DR cards will be handed out at Coop stores such as Kvickly and 365discount from October 30. Customers receive a pack of three cards for every 100 kroner spent at a Coop store. The DR album costs 40 kroner.

Regitze Spenner Ishøy, chair of Skole og Forældre, a national organisation for school boards and parents of children in public schools, said the promotions made Christmas more commercial. Families may have to decide whether their children can collect cards for one calendar or both, she said.

Ditte Winther-Lindqvist, a professor at Aarhus University who researches children’s play and play culture, said the competitive nature of collecting can lead to conflict, jealousy or pressure to trade. The time limit can intensify that competition: children often start collecting around December 1 and want to complete their sets before the Christmas holidays.

DR Sales said the cards are included with an ordinary grocery shop at SuperBrugsen and Kvickly, rather than being a separate product customers must buy. It said the cards are intended to encourage conversations about Christmas away from screens and can be traded or shared face to face.

DR Sales said it had deliberately avoided rarity levels, so no cards are harder to obtain than others. The album encourages children to collect and play together, and to trade or give away duplicates rather than sell them. Families who cannot afford the album can contact Coop to get a free copy from one of its stores.

Coop has committed to donating at least 500,000 kroner to UNICEF through its partnership with DR for this year’s Christmas calendar, which also includes the sale of a Santa hat. TV 2’s collectible cards have previously prompted debate, with some schools choosing to ban them from classrooms.