Annual ‘Christmas Crackers’ Joke Competition Launches

f

Tuesday 9 October 2019

  • TV channel Gold challenges individuals from across the nation to craft topical and witty Christmas cracker jokes for 2019 competition
  • Contest returns for a seventh year
  • Top prize is £1,500 holiday vouchers from Trailfinders plus a bespoke set of Christmas crackers featuring their winning joke
  • Nine runners up will also receive a festive hamper and set of the bespoke Gold crackers

The nation's favourite comedy channel, Gold has announced the return of its annual national joke competition to discover the best new Christmas cracker gags - covering all the ups and downs of 2019 - as written by the British public.

Last year's winning one-liner was political pun, "What does Donald Trump do after he pulls a cracker? Pays her off.", with 2017's top spot being taken by "Why was Theresa May sacked as Nativity Manager? She couldn't run a stable government."

For a seventh year, Gold is launching the competition to encourage the nation to get creative with a Christmas twist on the events of the past year. From Brexit chaos and Theresa May stepping down as Prime Minister, the launch of the nation's favourite vegan sausage roll and England winning the Cricket World Cup , to Love Island hook-ups and break-ups, the aim is to get the country chuckling this Christmas!

Britons will pull an astounding 300?million crackers on Christmas Day and Gold's mission is to keep the giggles going with new topical, seasonal gags. The competition is open until 11.59pm on Sunday 27th October 2019, and can be entered by tweeting new, original and funny Christmas jokes with the hashtag #GoldCrackers.

The winner will receive £1,500 holiday vouchers from Trailfinders, a festive themed hamper, as well as having their joke included in their own personalised set of crackers ready to pull on the big day. The nine runners-up will each receive a festive Christmas hamper, and a box of bespoke Gold Christmas crackers, which includes the top six winning jokes.

HOW TO ENTER
Open to all UK residents aged 18 and over, to enter please:

  • Follow @GoldChannel and tweet a Christmas-themed joke via your personal Twitter account including #GoldCrackers
  • Gold is looking for the most original festive jokes that put a comedy twist on the news agenda or pop culture across the past year
  • Jokes must be original content and suitable for a family audience (e.g. no swear words)
  • The joke entry must be included within one tweet (i.e. not be more than 280 characters), including #GoldCrackers
  • Multiple entries are allowed
  • All entrants must follow @GoldChannel (so we can notify the winners) - but the @GoldChannel twitter handle does not need to be included in the joke entry
  • Competition ends at 23:59 on 28/10/2018

For further information on the terms and conditions, please visit https://gold.uktv.co.uk/article/gold-crackers-2019-tcs/

The best jokes will be shortlisted by a comedy panel led by comedy critic, and editor of comedy website Beyond The Joke, Bruce Dessau.

Bruce Dessau said,

I'm sure we'll all agree that 2019 has been one of the maddest yet! But despite all the ups and downs, we can usually still find something to crack a smile about. I can't wait to see what comic gems emerge from this year's Gold's Christmas Crackers competition - I think we all deserve a laugh!

Gerald Casey, Gold channel director, said,

From the Brexit rollercoaster to the Cricket World Cup and some great TV moments along the way, our nation's comics certainly aren't short on inspiration this year. We had some fantastic gags in 2018, so we're expecting even more hilarious one-liners this year to get us chuckling over our Christmas dinners.

With the success of Gold's 'Christmas Cracker' competition across the last seven years, the channel is welcoming back the chance to enjoy the festive cheer. As entries are made via Twitter, all gags must be within 280 characters, to keep jokes short and snappy like the very best crackers!

Further information please contact

Lily Rutherford LR@taylorherring.com or Caitlin Marsh caitlin.marsh@taylorherring.com
Taylor Herring PR 0208 206 5151

About Gold

Sky 110/810, Virgin 124, BT & TalkTalk 310 +1: Sky 210, Virgin 190, TalkTalk 314
On demand on Sky, Virgin, BT, Now TV and TalkTalk

Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel.

Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family sit alongside an array of successful UKTV Originals including David Jason: My Life on Screen, The Rebel, The Story of Only Fools and Horses, and Murder on the Blackpool Express, which stars a stunning cast including Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson. The feature length UKTV Original attracted 1.72 million viewers in its first week in 2017, making it Gold's highest ever rating show.

The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.

Gold.uktv.co.uk / @goldtvchannel

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.

UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.

corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress