Christmas trading cards linked to Denmark’s popular television Advent calendars are once again causing controversy, as public broadcaster DR prepares to launch its first collection despite warnings about social pressure on children and financial pressure on parents.
The broadcaster has partnered with supermarket group Coop to distribute 50 collectible cards featuring characters from its upcoming Christmas series, Den Store Julefortælling (The Great Christmas Story). The promotion begins on 30 October, ahead of the programme’s December premiere.
Similar cards have been distributed for years alongside Christmas productions from TV 2, but their popularity has also led to disputes in schools. With both broadcasters offering collections this year, the debate has returned, raising a broader question about the responsibilities of media companies when children’s entertainment becomes tied to consumer spending.
Collecting the cards means shopping at specific supermarkets
Under the agreement announced by Coop, customers will receive three cards for every DKK 100 (€13) spent at participating SuperBrugsen and Kvickly supermarkets. The collection will be available in 280 stores across Denmark.
There are 50 different cards, meaning that even without duplicates, obtaining enough cards to complete the collection would require at least DKK 1,700 (€227) in qualifying grocery purchases. In practice, duplicates could make completing the album more difficult, although children can exchange cards with one another.
An accompanying album costs DKK 40 (€5).
The arrangement has drawn criticism from schools and the parent organisation School and Parents (Skole og Forældre), which argues that such promotions can create social divisions between children whose families have different financial resources.
In an interview with DR, Kenneth Holm, chief adviser for commercial partnerships at DR Sales (DR Salg), acknowledged those concerns.
We think that is entirely fair.
Holm explained that DR had considered how to reduce the pressure on families when it began planning the initiative in January.
Unlike previous collections associated with other television programmes, all 50 cards will have equal print runs, according to DR. None is intended to be rarer than the others, and the entire collection is supposed to be available from the start.
The broadcaster hopes these measures will make collecting easier and prevent competition over particularly valuable cards.
However, Coop’s announcement also mentions a special promotional card to be distributed on a day in December. It does not specify whether this card belongs to the main 50-card collection.
DR also argues that the cards are intended to accompany ordinary grocery shopping rather than encourage families to spend more than usual. Families unable to afford the album can contact Coop to obtain a free copy, according to the broadcaster.
Why trading cards have become a problem for Danish schools
Collectible cards are hardly a new phenomenon. Football stickers, Pokémon cards and merchandise featuring popular fictional characters have been familiar parts of childhood for generations.
In Denmark, however, cards associated with television Christmas calendars have become a recurring source of concern in schools.
The problem is not necessarily collecting itself, but what can happen when children begin comparing collections, competing for particular cards or excluding classmates who cannot participate.
During previous Christmas seasons, some Danish schools introduced restrictions on bringing cards into classrooms, while others prohibited them altogether.
In November 2025, the Danish educators’ union BUPL reported that several schools and after-school centres had imposed restrictions following conflicts among children.
At Klostermarksskolen in Roskilde, cards associated with TV 2’s Valdes Jul Christmas series were banned. Other institutions imposed rules on when and where children could exchange them.
The concerns are not limited to Christmas collections. BUPL noted that schools had encountered similar problems with football and Pokémon cards.
Some educators have responded with alternatives rather than outright bans. At an after-school centre near Nibe, children have spent years designing and exchanging their own homemade cards, turning a potentially competitive activity into a creative one.
Why Christmas trading cards attract particular attention in Denmark
The debate is not exclusively Danish. In other European countries, collectible stickers and trading cards have also generated concerns about their cost.
In April 2026, for example, The Guardian examined the expense of completing the Panini album for the expanded football World Cup, highlighting how duplicates can make an apparently inexpensive hobby costly.
What distinguishes the Danish controversy is partly the cultural importance of the television Christmas calendar, known locally as a tv-julekalender.
These programmes traditionally consist of 24 episodes broadcast daily from 1 to 24 December, creating a shared story that children and families can follow throughout the Christmas season.
According to the Danish national encyclopedia Lex, DR has broadcast children’s Christmas calendars every year since 1962, while TV 2 joined the tradition in 1990.
Over time, these productions have become an established part of Danish Christmas culture.
As a result, merchandise associated with the programmes is not simply another toy or collectible. It is connected to stories that many children encounter at the same time, discuss with classmates and follow at home.
This helps explain why access to the cards can become a social question. Not owning them may feel different when they are connected to a widely shared seasonal tradition, rather than an individual hobby.
The discussion therefore extends beyond whether collecting cards is enjoyable or expensive. It also concerns how commercial promotions can influence children’s relationships and participation in shared cultural experiences.
DR’s public service role adds another dimension
This year’s controversy has an additional aspect: the participation of Denmark’s publicly funded national broadcaster.
Unlike an ordinary merchandise company, DR operates under public service obligations that explicitly include responsibilities towards children.
Its public service contract for 2024-2026 emphasises the broadcaster’s independence from commercial interests and its duty to provide high-quality content that contributes positively to children’s development.
This makes the decision to connect a popular children’s programme to supermarket spending particularly sensitive.
DR maintains that partnerships extending its programmes beyond television are an established part of its activities. They include toys, events and other products associated with popular programmes.
Holm argues that these activities help strengthen the relationship between the broadcaster and its audience, while rejecting the suggestion that encouraging grocery purchases is itself DR’s responsibility.
There is also a precedent for a different approach. In 2025, DR and Coop collaborated on a Christmas activity book that allowed children to collect additional gifts without making further purchases after obtaining the book.
The new cards instead require qualifying supermarket purchases, even if families would otherwise have bought the same groceries.
DR insists that children can watch and enjoy the Christmas series without collecting anything. Yet the experience of previous years suggests that the popularity of these products can extend well beyond the television screen.
The cards arrive in supermarkets on 30 October, more than a month before the series begins. Whether DR’s decision to remove deliberately rare cards will prevent the familiar schoolyard disputes remains to be seen.
