Why Are Christmas Cracker Jokes So Bad?

If you’ve ever pulled a Christmas cracker, you’ll be familiar with their famously terrible jokes.

Love them or hate them, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the jokes found in Christmas crackers.

Generally followed by groans, sighs, and a few half-hearted laughs from around the table, the festive season isn’t quite complete without the jokes.

And while you might be forgiven for thinking the writers simply ran out of creativity, Christmas cracker jokes might actually be purposely bad!

When a joke is bad, you can blame the joke and not the person telling it. Psychology professors believe this plays an important part in why Christmas cracker jokes are intentionally terrible.

Those telling the jokes on Christmas Day can simply blame the joke if nobody laughs – saving some embarrassing moments.

This takes social pressure off people on Christmas Day and makes a family dinner more fun for everyone.

Most importantly for the manufacturers, this encourages people to buy Christmas crackers year after year.