“Why Costa Coffee’s Shocking Christmas Ban Has Everyone Talking!”
Ah, the holiday season—a time for twinkling lights, cozy reunions, and, let’s be honest, some particularly cringe-worthy tunes. Imagine sitting in your favorite coffee shop, the festive aroma of cinnamon in the air, only to have your Christmas spirit kicked to the curb by a song so widely disliked that it faced a ban! Yes, you heard that right! One of the United Kingdom’s most infamous Christmas number ones was deemed so unbearable by customers of Costa Coffee that it was taken off their playlists faster than Santa’s sleigh on a sugar rush. We’re talking about Sir Cliff Richard’s ‘Mistletoe and Wine’—a tune that, despite selling tons of copies and topping the charts, became the most hated Christmas Carol of all time! How could a jolly little ditty inspire such disdain? Let’s dive into this festive fiasco and explore the curiosities behind the yuletide melodies we cherish, or in some cases, dread. LEARN MORE.
One of the United Kingdom’s most famous Christmas number ones was banned by the country’s largest coffee chain, Costa, due to ‘how much customers hated it’.
Like mince pies and Santa Claus, Christmas and music go hand in hand.
Whether your favourite tune is Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, Wizzard’s ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’, Elton John’s ‘Step into Christmas’, or none of the above, there is a feeling of nostalgia and home that we associate with our favourite festive tunes.
Bringing us back to our childhood when we first started listening to them while putting up the Christmas tree with mum or dad, there is a reason some of the greatest songs have stood the test of time and are still played on the radio more than half a decade later.
But for Costa Coffee, that all changed for one particular Christmas number one back in 2013.
The coffee chain, which has 2,467 shops in the UK, took a stance against the 1988 tune which beat Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan’s ‘Especially for You’ to the top spot.
Costa is the country’s largest coffee chain (Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
We are, of course, talking about Sir Cliff Richard’s ‘Mistletoe and Wine’.
It was named the most hated Christmas song in a survey of 3,000 Costa customers back in 2013.
Released in 1988, it became one of Sir Cliff’s number ones that saw him achieve number one singles across five consecutive decades.
Selling 750,000 copies to date, it was also number one over in Ireland. Come December this year, it finally became a platinum release in the UK.
Other major songs also made the list, including The Waitresses’ ‘Christmas Wrapping’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.
Sir Cliff loves Christmas (Alistair Devine/TV Times/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Kevin Hydes, then UK Retail Marketing Director at Costa, told NME at the time of the poll results and initial ban: “We cannot deny our love for Sir Cliff, but sadly the people have spoken and his festive jingle ‘Mistletoe And Wine’ was voted the worst Christmas song of all time so we had to remove it from our playlists.
“We’re sure he’ll take this in the good-nature it was intended.”
Watch the music video below, you decide if it’s worthy of the ban:
Top 10 most hated Christmas songs, according to Costa customers:
- ‘Mistletoe and Wine’, Cliff Richard (1988)
- ‘Blue Christmas’, Shakin’ Stevens (1985)
- ‘Christmas Wrapping’, The Waitresses (1981)
- ‘Little Saint Nick’, The Beach Boys (1963)
- ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, Mariah Carey (1994)
- ‘When A Child Is Born’, Jonny Mathis (1972)
- ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)’, The Darkness (2003)
- ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ Band Aid 20 (2004)
- ‘Merry Christmas Baby’, Mae West (1960)
- ‘Wonderful Christmas’, Paul McCartney (1979)
LADbible did not get a response when contacting Costa for an update on the ban to see if Sir Cliff’s legendary Christmas song is still banned to this day.
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