GOLD'S ANNUAL ‘CHRISTMAS CRACKERS’ JOKE COMPETITION LAUNCHES

cracker
  • TV channel Gold challenges individuals from across the nation to craft topical and witty Christmas cracker jokes for 2018 competition
  • Contest returns for a sixth year
  • Top prize is £1,500 holiday vouchers 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 2018 - as written by the British public.

Last year's winning one-liner was political pun, "Why was Theresa May sacked as Nativity Manager? She couldn't run a stable government.", with 2016's top spot being taken by "How will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit? No Brussels".

For a sixth year, Gold is launching the competition encouraging the nation to get creative with a Christmas twist on the events of the past year. From the World Cup and Love Island, to the Royal Wedding and Kim Jong Un, the aim is to get the country laughing 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 28th October 2018, and can be entered by tweeting new, original and funny Christmas jokes with the hashtag #GoldCrackers.

The winner will receive £1,500 holiday vouchers, 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:

  • 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

For further information on the terms and conditions, please visit GOLD.

The best jokes will be shortlisted by a comedy panel led by Bruce Dessau.

Bruce Dessau said,

What a year 2018 has been - despite everything this year has thrown at us, we can usually manage to find something to giggle about. From England's remarkable performance at the World Cup, to Theresa May's questionable dancing, there is certainly plenty of scope for jokers to play with this Christmas. I'm so excited to see what comic gems emerge from Gold's Christmas Crackers competition this year!

Gerald Casey, Gold channel director, said,

2018 has undoubtedly been a year of ups and downs - whilst it may feel like the world's still a bit topsy-turvy around us, our sense of humour remains as strong as ever. I can't wait to hear what our nation's jokers come up with this year - I'm sure we've got a lot of crackers to look forward to this Christmas!

With the success of Gold's 'Christmas Cracker' competition across the last five years, the channel is welcoming back the chance to enjoy the festive cheer. From the Royal Wedding and Donald Trump's UK visit, to Love Island hook-ups and break-ups, there is plenty of opportunity to showcase witty takes on the year's news agenda - and as entries are made via Twitter, all gags must be within 280 characters, to keep jokes short and snappy like the very best crackers!

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gold

Further information please contact

Alex Butler AB@taylorherring.com or Caitlin Marsh caitlin.marsh@taylorherring.com
Taylor Herring PR - 0208 206 5151

Notes to Editors

About Gold
Sky 110, Virgin 124, BT and TalkTalk 310 On demand on Sky, Virgin and Now TV

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 | @goldchannel

About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching almost 40m viewers every month.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.

The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Studios and Discovery, Inc. - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.

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