Little Drummer Boy Challenge

The Little Drummer Boy Challenge, styled LDBC, is an informal internet competition in the United States to avoid hearing any version of the song "The Little Drummer Boy" for the duration of the Christmas and holiday season shopping period beginning at 12:01 am on the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday, and extending until December 24, Christmas Eve.[1] [2] Versions of the game have reportedly been around since as early as the 2000 holiday season, with variations including competitive elements and alternative starting and ending dates. The game has been placed in a genre referred to by one writer as "tests of obliviousness."[3]

History

While versions of a game avoiding "The Little Drummer Boy" may have been around since 2000, Michael Alan Peck launched the LDBC specifically after friends began to play it among themselves.[1] The game's growing appeal, which has been increasing since 2011,[4] has been attributed to a response to the perceived increase in holiday music played in retail spaces.[5]

Participants have, since 2014, been able to post "elfies" to the official Facebook page showing their horror when they hear the song and lose. As of 2018, some 10,000 people have either liked or followed the contest page on Facebook. Peck asserts he does not hate the song, but that it is an ideal challenge for holiday song avoidance as "you hear it a lot, but not so much that the game is impossible."[1] Peck also considers it "really weird" that the story is based on the notion that an appropriate gift to a newborn is someone banging on a drum.[6][7]

To support players, Peck in 2018 published a list of "toxic media" which has caused others in the past to lose the game.[8] Nevertheless, only 28% of players reported winning in 2017.[9] The version by Bing Crosby and David Bowie disqualifies the most players, according to statistics Peck has collected.[6]

Rules

Participation is automatic,[9] although reporting of losses and wins is voluntary. Winning requires not hearing even a snippet of "The Little Drummer Boy" between Black Friday and Christmas Eve inclusive,[6] the only exception being that being deliberately ambushed by someone singing or playing the song results in a loss for the offender, not the victim.[9][10][11] On the other hand, as of 2017 players may not harass musicians in advance to keep them from playing the song.[9][12] Parodies of the song, as of 2018, will also cause elimination per the "blurred lines rule."[13]

Some players go about in public wearing headphones to tune out holiday music which might trip them up.[14]

Variants

There are other versions of games for which avoiding "The Little Drummer Boy" is central, some of which likely predate the version advanced by Peck. The most significant difference is the start and end dates; in one version, for example, the game begins when Christmas music is first played in stores.[15]

See also

References
  1. Waxman, Olivia B (16 December 2014). "The 'Little Drummer Boy' Challenge Will Ruin You This Holiday Season". time.com. Time Warner. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. Peck, Michael Alan (21 November 2016). "Dem's Da Rules". Little Drummer Boy Challenge. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  3. Wiedeman, Reeves (13 February 2015). "Last Man Running". New Yorker. New Yorker. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. Amlen, Deb (5 December 2016). "Losing the Game". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. Madonna, Zoë (12 December 2017). "How much Christmas music is too much?". Boston Globe. Boston Globe. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  6. "How to play the Little Drummer Boy Challenge". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved 5 December 2018. that includes any parody, any interpretation, even a snippet . . . if you recognize the song, you are out.
  7. Hill, Daniel (4 December 2017). "Take the 'Little Drummer Boy' Challenge This Year: Avoid That Terrible Song". Riverfront Times. Riverfront Times. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  8. Bruner, Raisa (19 November 2018). "The Viral Challenge to Avoid the 'Little Drummer Boy' Song Can Help Make the Holidays Harder". time.com. Time Warner. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  9. "Little Drummer Boy Challenge 2017". youtube. Good Day Sacramento. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  10. "'Little Drummer Boy' challenge: not hearing the song until Christmas". kxan.com. Nexstar Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  11. Hughes, William (11 November 2017). "The Little Drummer Boy Challenge is the ultimate test of your shitty Christmas music avoidance skills". AV Club. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  12. Sims, Chris (6 December 2017). "'Little Drummer Boy Challenge' is surprisingly difficult Christmas task". IndyStar. USA Today. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  13. Ross, Alex Robert (16 December 2018). "Remember When Beck Made The World's Greatest Hanukkah-Themed Funk-Rap Song?". Noisey. Vice Media. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  14. Sherman, Erik (20 December 2013). "Using tech to bring out your inner Scrooge". MoneyWatch. CBS News. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  15. Terdiman, Daniel (22 December 2012). "Offbeat game recasts Xmas tune as 'Little Bummer Boy'". Cnet. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
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