Table of Contents

• Overview
• Expressing Emotion And Strengthening Relationships
• Encouraging Authenticity
• What Sort Of Gift Should You Buy?
• A Candle Or A Card?
• A Box Set Or A Single Card?
• Conclusion
• References

Overview

The main reason we love to give gifts is that it’s a simple way to express our feelings and strengthen our connections with each other. We feel good when we make others feel good.

Introduction

Giving gifts has been a part of human culture for thousands of years, but why do we really do it? It can be as simple as a way to show appreciation, but there’s more to it than that. Giving a gift is an easy way to make someone happy, which makes us happy in turn, and it also strengthens the bond between us and fosters trust. In this article I’ll explain what I think are the main reasons we all love to give gifts.

A crazy story

About a year ago I decided to buy my friend Ollie a present; he was having a hard time at work and I wanted to cheer him up. It was just after we had started selling our candles so I decided to give him one of those; the ‘deeply offensive’ one. The message on it is pretty direct and could be seen as quite offensive if you don’t know how it’s meant (I’m sure you can guess what it says). But he did know how it was meant, so he found it absolutely hilarious. He called me straight away, struggling to talk because he was laughing so much! The funny thing is, that he didn’t even light the candle; he just put it on his desk at work. Anyway, my point is that by buying him this candle, not only did I make him laugh until his belly hurt, but I felt great about doing that too!

It’s about making people feel good

As you can see from my story above, giving someone a gift they like will make them feel good; and when we do this, we also feel good ourselves! Whether you’re making them feel loved or making them laugh (as in my example), everyone wins! This is why buying them something funny works so well; whether they find it silly or heart-warming or both, they’ll enjoy receiving the gift. And if you want some inspiration on what sort of silly gift to buy for someone, have a look at our article about rude candles here: Top 5 Rude Candles That Make The Perfect Funny Gift. Or just browse around our website for ideas. The other thing worth mentioning here is that by making someone laugh you help their mental health too. It might sound like an exaggeration but scientific studies have shown that laughter helps with stress relief which has an effect on overall wellbeing too. And mental wellbeing is extremely important; far more so than most people realise. In fact this awareness of mental health and wellbeing is the main reason why Mr. Inappropriate was started in the first place – read more about this in our story here: Our story. So get shopping! Buy your friend something silly and help improve their mental wellbeing! And yours at the same time!

Expressing Emotion And Strengthening Relationships

I think another reason that giving gifts makes us feel good is because it's nice to express gratitude and appreciation for each other.

This relates slightly to what I said above - it's just another way of making someone feel good.

But it's also about strengthening relationships by simply showing that you care - even something small like this can have quite an impact.

I guess it's also nice for us - knowing that we're showing someone else how much we appreciate them - not just because we're making them feel good but because fostering strong relationships is important for us too.

Encouraging Authenticity

This might sound like a strange one but hear me out...

If you buy someone a silly gift (like one of our candles) then you're giving them an opportunity to behave authentically - if only for a moment.

I say this because if they're anything like most people then they're constantly worrying about how they're acting and what they're saying.

But if you buy them something that's clearly meant as a joke (and maybe even 'offensive') then you're inviting them into your world where they're allowed to relax and be themselves.

We wrote quite extensively about this in our brand story which you can find here: Our Story.

What Sort Of Gift Should You Buy?

I imagine this depends hugely on who you're buying for but generally speaking I think it's best if you buy something that's genuinely funny rather than just silly or crude.

If you don't believe me then have a look at some of our product reviews - you'll see what I mean!

A Candle Or A Card?

If you're buying for a colleague then I'd recommend getting them either one of our candles or mugs; these are things that they'll most likely keep on their desk so they'll get reminded of the joke every day!

If you're buying for your partner then I'd suggest getting them either one of our cards or maybe one of the box sets ('silly' or 'romantic').

A Box Set Or A Single Card?

If you've looked around on the site you'll have noticed that we sell both individual cards and sets (boxes) containing ten different ones.

The answer to this question probably depends on who you're buying for.

If you'd like any advice please just email me at dan@mrinappropriate.co.uk!

Conclusion

1. The main reason why people love giving gifts is because making someone else feel good makes us feel good too!
2. Giving gifts helps us strengthen relationships by expressing emotion.
3. If done right, giving someone a gift gives them permission to behave authentically.
4. I think the best type of gift to buy is something genuinely funny; ideally something they can keep on their desk at work such as a candle or mug - check out this page for ideas!

References

*(1) Our story