Little Drummer Boy Challenge

A version of the game to avoid "The Little Drummer Boy" during the holidays has been around since the mid-1990s. Michael Alan Peck launched the LDBC specifically after friends began to play it among themselves.{{cite web |last1=Waxman |first1=Olivia B |title=The 'Little Drummer Boy' Challenge Will Ruin You This Holiday Season |url=https://time.com/3631690/little-drummer-boy-challenge/ |website=Time |publisher=Time Warner |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=December 16, 2014}} The game's growing appeal, which has been increasing since 2011,{{cite web |last1=Amlen |first1=Deb |title=Losing the Game |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/crosswords/losing-the-game.html |work=New York Times |access-date=December 6, 2018 |date=December 5, 2016}} has been attributed to a response to the perceived increase in holiday music played in retail spaces.{{cite web |last1=Madonna |first1=Zoë |title=How much Christmas music is too much? |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2017/12/07/how-much-christmas-music-too-much/pd9F7ghwjyfKNJbVPMBHfM/story.html |website=Boston Globe |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=December 12, 2017}}

Participants have, since 2014, been able to post "elfies" to the official Facebook page showing their horror when they hear the song and lose. As of 2018, some 10,000 people have either liked or followed the contest page on Facebook. Peck asserts he does not hate the song (while the originators of the game do), but that it is an ideal challenge for holiday song avoidance as "you hear it a lot, but not so much that the game is impossible." Peck also considers it "really weird" that the story is based on the notion that an appropriate gift to a newborn is someone banging on a drum.{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Daniel |title=Take the 'Little Drummer Boy' Challenge This Year: Avoid That Terrible Song |url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/musicblog/2017/12/04/take-the-little-drummer-boy-challenge-this-year-avoid-that-terrible-song |website=Riverfront Times |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=December 4, 2017}}

To support players, Peck in 2018 published a list of "toxic media" which has caused others in the past to lose the game.{{cite web |last1=Bruner |first1=Raisa |title=The Viral Challenge to Avoid the 'Little Drummer Boy' Song Can Help Make the Holidays Harder |url=https://time.com/5459230/little-drummer-boy-challenge-2/ |website=Time |publisher=Time Warner |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=November 19, 2018}} Nevertheless, only 28% of players reported winning in 2017. The version by Bing Crosby and David Bowie disqualifies the most players, according to statistics Peck has collected.

Participation is automatic,{{cite web |title=Little Drummer Boy Challenge 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pB6fu_KBz4 |website=youtube |publisher=Good Day Sacramento |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=November 28, 2017}} although reporting of losses and wins is voluntary. Winning requires not hearing even a snippet of "The Little Drummer Boy" between Black Friday and Christmas Eve inclusive,{{cite web |title=How to play the Little Drummer Boy Challenge |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/culture/2018/11/19/how-to-play-the-little-drummer-boy-challenge.cnn |website=CNN.com |date=November 19, 2018 |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 5, 2018 |quote=that includes any parody, any interpretation, even a snippet . . . if you recognize the song, you are out.}} the only exception being that being deliberately ambushed by someone singing or playing the song results in a loss for the offender, not the victim.{{cite web |title='Little Drummer Boy' challenge: not hearing the song until Christmas |url=https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/-little-drummer-boy-challenge-not-hearing-the-song-until-christmas/1606654305 |website=kxan.com |date=November 19, 2018 |publisher=Nexstar Broadcasting Inc. |access-date=December 5, 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=William |title=The Little Drummer Boy Challenge is the ultimate test of your shitty Christmas music avoidance skills |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-little-drummer-boy-challenge-is-the-ultimate-test-o-1820729575 |website=AV Club |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=November 11, 2017}} On the other hand, as of 2017 players may not harass musicians in advance to keep them from playing the song.{{cite web |last1=Sims |first1=Chris |title='Little Drummer Boy Challenge' is surprisingly difficult Christmas task |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/2017/12/06/little-drummer-boy-challenge-surprisingly-difficult-christmas-task/926228001/ |website=IndyStar |publisher=USA Today |access-date=December 5, 2018 |date=December 6, 2017}} Parodies of the song, as of 2018, will also cause elimination per the "blurred lines rule."{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Alex Robert |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-noisey-advent-calendar-day-16-beck-the-little-drum-machine-boy/ |title=Remember When Beck Made The World's Greatest Hanukkah-Themed Funk-Rap Song? |website=Noisey |publisher=Vice Media |access-date=December 18, 2018 |date=December 16, 2018}}

Some players go about in public wearing headphones to tune out holiday music which might trip them up.{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Erik |title=Using tech to bring out your inner Scrooge |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scrooge-tech-when-you-overdose-on-holiday-cheer/ |website=MoneyWatch |publisher=CBS News |access-date=December 6, 2018 |date=December 20, 2013}}

There are other versions of games for which avoiding "The Little Drummer Boy" is central, some of which likely predate the version advanced by Peck. The most significant difference is the start and end dates; in one version, for example, the game begins when Christmas music is first played in stores. {{cite web |last1=Terdiman |first1=Daniel |title=Offbeat game recasts Xmas tune as 'Little Bummer Boy' |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/offbeat-game-recasts-xmas-tune-as-little-bummer-boy/ |website=Cnet |publisher=CBS Interactive Inc. |access-date=December 6, 2018 |date=December 22, 2012}}

• Whamageddon, a similar challenge using "Last Christmas" as the song to avoid

{{reflist}}

• {{url|http://littledrummerboychallenge.com}}

Category:Games of mental skill

Category:Internet memes

Category:Musical culture

Category:Christmas in the United States