History Main / MyNewGiftIsLame

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has mephits, little [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental]] [[OurImpsAreDifferent imps]] that make for obnoxious and unreliable servitors. Since nobody would give a mephit to someone they like, ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' explains there's an entire "mephit vendetta code" based around the type and number of mephits sent to someone. A gift of a morbid ash mephit is a warning that the sender is aware the receiver is plotting against them, a mischievous fire mephit is sent to show general displeasure, a cruel ice mephit indicates that the receiver is forbidden from entering the sender's home (with the number of ice mephits sent indicating the penalty for trespassing), a bitingly sarcastic salt mephit is analogous to an open declaration of war, while a flaky radiant mephit can be sent as a peace offering.

** In "Midnight Rx", Homer and Grampa Simpson head to [[CanadaEh Canada]], where Grampa's Canadian friend helps them purchase affordable medications. In gratitude, Grampa gives him a DVD player, but he looks at the box and asks "Where do you put the syrup?"

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/MoringMarkTOHComics''. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1853ky9/a_little_hint_of_blue_chapter_2_part_11/ Viney learns that it's Skara's 15th birthday]] and leaves a new pen at her locker the following day with an attached note apologizing for how lame the gift is. Despite the two of them being little more than acquaintances at this point, Skara is touched by the gift, and another comic set several years later (by which point the two of them are dating) [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/186q12a/idol/ shows that she still has the pen in her possession]].

* ''Series/NewsRadio'': Jimmy James gives everyone but Matthew a brand new Miata for Christmas. Instead, Matthew gets a set of ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly'' tapes. When he finally confronts Mr. James, he finds that the gift wasn't the tapes; Mr. James was actually giving him all rights to the entire ''Fibber [=McGee=] and Molly'' series.
* In an episode of ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', Robert Webb plays a heroin addict that gets his favorite thing in the whole world for Christmas from everyone except his grandmother, who got him cocaine. His mother quietly offers to take it back and exchange it for more heroin.
* ''Series/JustShootMe'' had a very similar episode, only while Finch pretended to like his gift outwardly, he secretly ruined all the other presents before finding out how much his was actually worth.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
** In "The Killer Shrews", Joel gives Gypsy an expensive doll, Tom a racecar, and Crow... pants. Turns out that this was a Very Special acknowledgment of his greater maturity, qualifying him for an "adult" gift. (In a ContinuityNod, whenever Crow has cause to pack up his possessions, one crate is clearly marked "pants".)
** In the first Christmas episode, "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", the Mads invent "The Wish Squisher," a machine designed to turn cool gifts into disappointing ones. A box of NES games becomes a pair of ill-fitting Underoos, money becomes your sister's raisin collection, and slot cars become an ugly pair of socks. The socks are run through the machine a second time and become a gift certificate for a stationery store.

* In ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' episode "Graduation," Mrs. Garrett gives Blair a nice sweater and Jo... a rock. She proceeds to show Jo that it's a geode and spins an elaborate metaphor in which the ordinary-looking stone with potential treasure hidden inside represents Jo. Blair then becomes annoyed that her gift doesn't come with a metaphor!
* One of ''Series/{{Psych}}'''s early Christmas episodes showed this with Lassie. However, it was intentional as Shawn had been listening in on their psychiatric evaluations and told everyone to get Lassie snowglobes, just to torture him.
* In a Christmas episode of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', Michael was very disappointed to receive a hand-knitted oven mitt from his Secret Santa (Phyllis) when he himself had gotten his person (Ryan) an iPod. Of course, this was stupid because he himself had imposed a $20 limit to the gifts to make the iPod look even better in comparison to everyone else's gifts.

* ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'': an elderly relative leaves Dick an old desk and a wacky piece of film. The film has hints that lead Dick to realize that the old, old picture of an ancestor is a really valuable piece of history: it's a picture that includes Abraham Lincoln.

* In the children's series ''Series/TheQueensNose'', when the wise old uncle comes to visit, he gives the annoying and snobby older sister Melody some fancy clothes and a bundle of money. To the younger sister Harmony (who is his favourite niece) he gives... an old 50 pence piece, of the same year as her birth. She soon discovers that this particular 50p is magical and grants her ten wishes.
* In ''Series/{{Glue}}'', farm boy James is given a set of keys for his 18th birthday, which he happily assumes are for a car. Cue disappointment when it turns out they're for a ''tractor''. (No hidden meaning here - a tractor is simply of more use at a farm).

* In the Christmas episode "A Creature was Stirring," from ''Series/TheHauntingHour,'' Timmy's two older siblings, Mark and Becky, spend Christmas morning complaining about their gifts. Mark gets an iPod, when he really wanted an iPad, and complains that it doesn't have enough gigs on it. Becky gets a dress that her mother thought she could wear to school, but Becky says she can't wear it because "it looks like my mother bought it." She then asks if she can exchange it for something she likes.
* in the ''Series/CornerGas'' episode "No Time Like the Presents", Emma declares that she's done with all of her Christmas shopping. Oscar protests that [[ChristmasCreep it's only July]], and asks why she bothered to do it so early when "last year, all you got people were crappy socks". Emma claims it's because she left it too late (a.k.a. she waited until September) and thus ran out of time to find good gifts. Then the episode plot starts where Oscar tells people what they're getting for Christmas in exchange for gifts and favours. When Emma finally catches onto him, she brings all the gifts back and purposely gets everyone more crappy socks out of spite.
* ''Series/{{Succession}}'': The fantastically wealthy Roy family finds it impossible to give their patriarch Logan gifts for his birthday because he already has everything he wants, and even when something new comes along, he'll get a dozen of them from various admirers. The first episode of the series has Tom give him a watch, which Logan immediately gives away, and Connor gives him some starter dough to make old-fashioned sourdough, which causes Logan to thank him with transparently fake enthusiasm for the "old bread."
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': Johnny is a bad gift giver. The whole premise of the show is based on the fact that he bought the town of Schitt's Creek as a joke gift for his son, which ends up saving the family from total destitution. Season 3 also has an episode where Johnny gives the perpetually casual Stevie a "briefcase of makeup" and urges her to wear it every day. Stevie takes it as a veiled insult, but Alexis assures her that he's just terrible at giving gifts. She recalls the time he gave CampGay David a basketball court for his 13th birthday.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': One episode has Jimmy's plan to rob an office complicated by the fact that the business owner is spending the night there after his wife kicked him out for giving her a vacuum cleaner as a gift. He protests over the phone that it's "top of the line" and "never loses suction!"

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' can go on and on about this.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOVCtUdaMCU&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive The mother in this sketch]] tactfully accepts her new robe that was bought on sale, while staring at the presents everyone else got. Even the dog got more than her.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpeoW2mvwp4&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive Pandora Jewelry charms]] are shiny and expensive, but only show how little thought or care the gifter put into the present. The receivers are obviously disappointed, but give fake smiles and pretend to love them, knowing that those little charms are the only presents they're going to get from then on.
** Played with in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcEylCwkSxE&t=42s&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive this sketch]]. The husband bought the family a new car, expecting his wife and son to love it. Instead, the wife angrily rips into the husband for [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome buying an expensive car without asking her]], and demands that he return the car before they go into serious debt.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': In the first season finale Chandler gets Rachel a Travel Scrabble game for her birthday. Rachel says "thank you" through gritted teeth and hands the game back to him before she finishes speaking.

For the superhero version of this, see BlessedWithSuck. KidsPreferBoxes is a juvenile variation of this trope. IGotARock is the trick-or-treating version. When ElementalPowers are in play, you'll have WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway May result from ConvenienceStoreGiftShopping or a HomemadeSweaterFromHell. The {{subtrope}} that drives the engine of an UnwantedGiftPlot. For the polar opposite of this trope (where the character finds an item most people would consider cool to be lame), see WorthlessYellowRocks. Can overlap (and frequently does) with ClothesForChristmasCringe if the gift is clothes.

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/MoringMarkTOHComics''. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1853ky9/a_little_hint_of_blue_chapter_2_part_11/ Viney learns that it's Skara's 15th birthday]] and leaves a new pen at her locker the following day with an attached note apologizing for how lame the gift is. Despite the two of them being little more than acquaintances at this point, Skara is touched by the gift, and another comic set several years later (by which point the two of them are dating) [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/186q12a/idol/ she still has the pen in her possession]].

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/MoringMarkTOHComics''. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1853ky9/a_little_hint_of_blue_chapter_2_part_11/ Viney learns that it's Skara's 15th birthday]] and leaves a new pen at her locker the following day with an attached note apologizing for how lame the gift is. Despite the two of them being little more than acquaintances at this point, Skara is touched by the gift, and another comic set several years later (by which point the two of them are dating) [[[[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/186q12a/idol/ she still has the pen in her possession]].

* MyNewGiftIsLame: Inverted in ''Webcomic/MoringMarkTOHComics''. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1853ky9/a_little_hint_of_blue_chapter_2_part_11/ Viney learns that it's Skara's 15th birthday]] and leaves a new pen at her locker the following day with an attached note apologizing for how lame the gift is. Despite the two of them being little more than acquaintances at this point, Skara is touched by the gift, and another comic set several years later (by which point the two of them are dating) [[[[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/186q12a/idol/ she still has the pen in her possession]].

* Variation: ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Rebecca's wealthy boyfriend promises her a wonderful gift and references a "ring". She gets a desk. Convinced that there's an engagement ring hidden inside, she literally tears the desk apart to find it. Then Sam finds the packing slip, explaining that it's the very valuable and historic desk at which Music/RichardWagner composed ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''.

-->'''Blanche''': What are you going to do with your gift?
-->'''Dorothy''': It's a log. I'm going to burn it.

** Inverted over Christmas break. [[spoiler:Shirogane gets Kaguya a kendama due to being short on time and running on even less sleep than usual, but is so embarrassed by it that she has to literally rip it out of his hands just to open the box. Kaguya herself (while fully admitting that it is a lame gift that doesn't fit the mood at all) is actually happy because what she wants more than anything is for her and Shirogane to be able to show and accept each other's flaws.]]]]

* In ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', the Grinch is subjected to sampling holiday foods, a Christmas sweater that's loud, kitschy, and has about as many lights as a Christmas tree. The worst of all takes place when Mayor Augustus May-Who gives the Grinch a hair razor so the Grinch can shave his hair. This brings back painful childhood memories, and the Grinch shaves May-Who's hair off instead.
* In Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', each member in the Fellowship receives cool personal gifts from Galadriel, including a magical lantern for Frodo, some daggers for Pippin and Merry, and a coveted lock of golden hair for Gimli. Sam, however, gets some rope. Whoopee. Visibly underwhelmed, he even has the balls to ask if he might have a "shiny dagger" as well, but Galadriel just smirks at his impudence and doesn't bother to reply. Of course, the rope magically unties itself when necessary, and [[ChekhovsGun comes in very useful]]. In the book, Sam is given a rare seed and fertile soil from Lothlórien due to his trade as a gardener. The rope is just part of the general equipment. Also, in the book, Sam has been complaining about not having any rope for several chapters and is actually quite pleased to finally have some (though he's a bit skeptical of its strength since it's so thin).

* Snopes' {{Glurge}} Gallery includes [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/treasure-of-the-sierra-padre/ this story]] which mixes this trope with ValuesDissonance: A rich father promises his son that if he graduates from college, he would give him an excellent gift, which his son assumes is a brand new sports car. When the son does graduate, however, his father gives him a Bible, which makes the son feel really upset, because that wasn't the "excellent gift" that he was expecting, and thus never read it. Years later, when the father died, the son went through the Bible his father gave him that he never opened...and inside was a key to a brand new sports car that he never got the chance to ride around in. (Alternately, inside the Bible was a check made out in full to a dealership so the son could pick up the brand new sports car. Or the ownership papers to said sports car.) In a society where expecting your children to adopt your religious beliefs is no longer considered good parenting, [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic not many readers are going to sympathize with the father.]]

[[folder:Other]]
* An old tale that made its way into a ''Dear Abby'' column: A rich father promises his son that if he graduates from college, he would give him an excellent gift, which his son assumes is a brand new sports car. When the son does graduate, however, his father gives him a Bible, which makes the son feel really upset, because that wasn't the "excellent gift" that he was expecting, and thus never read it. Years later, when the father died, the son went through the Bible his father gave him that he never opened...and inside was a key to a brand new sports car that he never got the chance to ride around in. (Alternately, inside the Bible was a check made out in full to a dealership so the son could pick up the brand new sports car. Or the ownership papers to said sports car.)
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Professor Membrane takes this reaction to the next level by [[DisproportionateRetribution devoting a portion of the rest of his life to destroying Santa Claus and building a bunker full of anti-Santa artillery]]. [[ComicBook/InvaderZim The comic series]] explains that Membrane StillBelievesInSanta despite his AgentScully status elsewhere because he's simply unable to cope with the idea that his own parents bought him socks for Christmas.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': In the first ChristmasEpisode, Chas Finster expresses concern about his son having bad Christmases because he himself apparently had bad Christmases as far as the presents were concerned. Among other lame gifts he got were rubber gloves and a tongue depressor.

* Subverted in one advert which had every member of the family left some vast, beautiful piece of real estate, except for one son who gets 10 acres of swamp. We think he's the BlackSheep until he whoops in delight -- cut to him driving his SUV at top speed through the mud and branches.

** Averted with the help of any online store that offers to let you set up a wishlist of items you really DO want...
*** …until you wind up getting duplicates of the same gift.
** Noted that peoples opinion on gifts can change over time, whilst receiving socks as a kid is considered lame as you probably would rather get a cool toy getting funny, colourful, or nerdy socks as an adult is considered charming as a person can get you something practical but still potentially fun.

* The goblin in the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Present_Exchange Present Exchange]] card doesn't seem to like the t-shirt he got. (Likely because it has a picture of [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Scrap_Kong Scrap Kong]] on it, a card that [[SelfDeprecation is regarded as nearly useless]] by most fans.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In the episode "Dog of Death," Kent Brockman is reporting on the large lottery price money, and mentions that the schools would get a cut of the earnings made from the ticket sales, and Principal Skinner is making grand plans as to how to update the curriculum and remodel the school. Once Brockman wins the lottery and brags about not quitting a good-paying job, he reports on the ceremony where a lottery official gives principal Skinner his school's cut of the lottery ticket earnings: a brand new chalkboard eraser. Before Skinner goes into a rant about how the government screwed him over, the transmission cuts back to Brockman in the studio.
** Subverted in one episode where Uncle Herb gives Lisa a set of great literature, Bart a membership in the NRA, Marge a new washer and dryer, and Homer... his forgiveness. When Homer's disappointment is obvious, he reveals that, yeah, he also got him the lounge chair he'd been eyeing.
** Parodied at the end of "You Only Move Twice"--at one point, Homer tells his new boss, Hank Scorpio, that his dream is to one day own the Dallas Cowboys. When he leaves, Scorpio sends a note with a gift to help him get started on the dream. To his dismay, it's the Denver Broncos.
-->'''Marge:''' I think owning the Denver Broncos is pretty good.
-->'''Homer:''' Yeah, yeah.
-->'''Marge:''' Well, explain to me why it isn't.
-->'''Homer:''' ''(sighs)'' You just don't understand football, Marge.
** In the episode "White Christmas Blues," Lisa decides that she's going to get people cheap but meaningful gifts. She gets Homer some seeds, which he just eats, and Bart a book, which he burns. She yells at him for this, but Bart calls her out for getting things that make ''her'' feel like a good person but which she knew that the recipients wouldn't actually enjoy. She's forced to concede the point.
** In "Mona Leaves-A," Homer's mother Mona dies and bequeaths gifts to the Simpson clan. Marge gets a hemp purse, Bart receives a Swiss army knife...and Lisa gets "Mona's rebellious spirit," which she complains about. Later, the family members [[ChekhovsGift use the gifts]] to help free Homer from captivity: Bart's knife helps cut Homer free from ropes, while Marge sets the purse on fire to get a group of guards stoned. It's revealed that Lisa started the fire by using a pair of Mona's diamond earrings, which she stole in protest of her original inheritance.
** In "Midnight Rx", Homer and Grampa Simpson head to [[CanadaEh Canada]], where Grampa's Canadian friend helps them purchase affordable medications. In gratitude, Grampa gives him a DVD player, but he looks at the box and asks "Where do you put the syrup?"

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In the Valentine's Day episode, Spongebob plans to give Patrick a very special gift of a giant heart-shaped chocolate bubble, but Sandy takes forever getting it there for him. Patrick, growing impatient waiting for his gift, becomes annoyed when he sees that Spongebob has gotten great gifts for everyone else--even total strangers. Spongebob finally decides to just give him a "friendly handshake" instead, which makes Patrick mad--until Sandy shows up with the real thing. (And at which point, Patrick says to Spongebob, "You didn't have to give me anything.")
** And there's also that episode in which Spongebob picks up what he thinks is a piece of chewed gum off the ground. (Yes, this is a good thing.) Then it gets wet and reveals its true identity, to Spongebob's dismay: "This isn't gum at all! [[WorthlessYellowRocks It's a lousy hundred-dollar bill."]]
** In "Dying for Pie", Spongebob gives Squidward a sweater made of eyelashes. Then again, Squidward gave him a deadly pie, so he isn't really better.
** {{Subverted}} in the first ChristmasEpisode: Squidward, posing as SantaClaus to keep Spongebob from being sad, winds up having to give random items from his house as presents to everyone in town. In each case, the receiver interprets it as something that they actually want.
** In "Squeaky Boots", Pearl is heartbroken over Mr. Krabs buying her a pair of $2.00 fishing boots for her birthday instead of the Flipper Slippers she wanted that all of her friends are wearing. She bawls and outright rejects the boots, leaving Mr. Krabs to wonder what to do with them.
** In "Nature Pants", [=SpongeBob=] gives away his possessions to his friends before he leaves to be a jellyfish. The only thing he leaves Squidward is a (non-electric) can opener which he sarcastically remarks "And I thought this friendship would never pay off." Patrick initially didn't do much better getting a jar of mayonnaise and a stack of old phone books (although he genuinely appreciated the presents) until [=SpongeBob=] also decided to give him [[ICallItVera "Ol' Reliable"]]: his prized jellyfish net.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'''s nana gave the Tweebs some old discs that they were happy about, Kim got [[HomemadeSweaterFromHell an ugly sweater]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FluppyDogs'' pilot, a human boy is disappointed getting a small shaggy dog for a present instead of a more impressive breed. Of course, he instantly changes his mind when the dog reveals himself to be a [[FunnyAnimal sapient, talking humanoid alien]] who gets him involved in a wild adventure with his brethren.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', when the other kids get very good Halloween candies, Charlie Brown gets a rock.
* Hilariously re-done on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'':
-->'''Linus:''' I love Geography Day! I got Italy!\\
'''Lucy:''' I got Russia!\\
'''Charlie:''' I got Iraq...

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'' Leoric's reaction to learning the ability of his magical staff (make incredibly cryptic comments that eventually turn out to be significant to their situation) in comparison with the abilities the bad guys get, such as summoning a giant monster to do his bidding. After seeing a particularly impressive display one of his companions, Ectar, even comments that the wizard gave him a bad staff.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': On his eighth birthday, Otto's first gift to open up is from Larry - a whisk. Which, in deadpan fashion, he accepts.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfsAChristmasCarol'', Grouchy's gift of a Smurf hat (which is what every other Smurf gets) is considered lame to him, because he was expecting a hang glider. Even worse is that it's the same gift that he gets every year, up until the time Jokey fooled him with one of his surprises, leading to his rant about the gift.
-->'''Grouchy Smurf:''' Isn't Christmas about getting what you want? Well, I want a hang glider! Why do I even bother to celebrate Christmas if all I ever get is THIS -- the same old boring useless hat!? I mean, how many hats does a Smurf need?
** As it turns out, the hat he was given as a Christmas gift at the present time of the story does allow him to glide.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' ''Wishmas'', Timmy got dozens of good gifts but doesn't get a sled. His Dad wanted 2000 gallons of eggnog, but he got some golf clubs, an SUV, the hope diamond, a talking horse, and Timmy's sled (which he threw in the fire) and he considers them lame.
* Happens in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' where the monks -- and their dragon companion Dojo -- are opening presents on Chinese New Year.
-->'''Dojo:''' Let's see what my [[MythologyGag great-great-uncle Tiamat]] sent me!\\
(''opens the package, revealing a dragon skeleton'')\\
'''Dojo:''' [[SarcasmMode His bones. How thoughtful.]]
* In several episodes of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle gives books as presents (especially to Spike) and doesn't seem to get the hint that just because she loves books so much doesn't mean others do too.
* In the early episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', "Spookyfish", Stan's Aunt Flo comes to visit, and gives him and his sister, Shelly, gifts. Shelly receives an elaborate entertainment system, while Stan receives a goldfish. Things get worse when the goldfish starts killing random people, [[spoiler:including Aunt Flo herself.]]
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}''. Helen recalls her first anniversary with Jake to Daria, and how as a gift, he made a poorly constructed candle made to look like [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a Hobbit.]] He then accidentally drops it in the hot tub they were sitting in, causing it to melt into a shapeless lump. While being initially disappointed, she realized "a lot of time and love went into that silly lump of wax." She even saved it after all those years to remind herself why she married him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}},'' on Jim's sixteenth birthday, his mother Barbara begins raving about his gift, making it sound like it's the Vespa that he's has been eyeing. It turns out to actually be a food processor since Jim does most of their cooking. To his credit, he chooses to be tactful; to ''her'' credit, she quickly realizes what Jim thought she meant and becomes very apologetic.
* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn.'' The title character hears that her cousin, Ned, is getting "a new set of wheels" for his sixteenth birthday. Thinking that this means a car, Pepper Ann quickly begins to butter him up, and also offers rides to various other characters. Come Ned's birthday, he gets a new set of wheels for his bicycle, which is exactly what he wanted, but Pepper Ann is left with a lot of angry acquaintances.
* Subverted in a flashback in the ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' episode "[[Recap/WhatsNewScoobyDooS3E8ATerrifyingRoundWithAMenacingMetallicClown A Terrifying Round With a Menacing Metallic Clown]]" when Velma gets an encyclopedia set for her birthday. Velma, being who she is, is the type of person who would love something like that as a gift, however the clown hired for her birthday party didn't realize that, and ran them through a wood chipper. [[note]]Velma's mother booked the only party clown to use a wood chipper as a prop.[[/note]] This resulted in Velma [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes having a lifelong phobia of clowns.]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', "Prunella Gets it Twice," sees Prunella receiving a "Polly Lockett" doll from Francine for her birthday--but she already got one from her mother, so she thoughtlessly tosses it away. The rest of the episode is [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol a version of]] ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', where the Ghosts of Presents Past (as in ''birthday'' presents) and Lunch Tomorrow take Prunella on a trip through time to show her that Francine was determined to get Prunella the doll as thanks for the older girl tutoring her for a difficult history test. Francine worked tirelessly to earn the cash, and even made a deal with her mean older sister Catherine to get enough money to personalize the doll's sweater. Prunella then realizes how cruel she was to Francine and makes things right by personalizing the original doll and giving it to Francine.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'', Ken gets Franchise/{{Barbie}} a charm bracelet for her birthday, but Nikki and Teresa tell him that she won't appreciate such a small present, given her status as TheAce. Everyone goes out of their way to get Barbie extravagant gifts, but she unfortunately already has them all (although unlike most instances of this trope, Barbie is sincerely grateful to her friends for every present, even if it's a duplicate). Ken then gives her the charm bracelet--and she's genuinely thrilled, as she's never had one before.

* In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', Professor Membrane takes this reaction to the next level by [[DisproportionateRetribution devoting a portion of the rest of his life to destroying Santa Claus and building a bunker full of anti-Santa artillery]]. [[ComicBook/InvaderZim The comic series]] explains that Membrane StillBelievesInSanta despite his AgentScully status elsewhere because he's simply unable to cope with the idea that his own parents bought him socks for Christmas.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Watch", Richard gives Gumball an old watch. Gumball hates it and pawns it off on Darwin, who gives it to Marvin Finkleheimer. As much as they hated the gift, they tried to get it back because they thought Richard would be devastated if he found out they lost it, though it turns out Richard didn't give a shit about the watch either and gave it to them ''because'' he simply wanted to get rid of it. [[spoiler:That is, until they find out on TV how much money it's worth; too bad Marvin, who was eventually willing to give it back, was watching the same show.]]

For the superhero version of this, see BlessedWithSuck. KidsPreferBoxes is a juvenile variation of this trope. IGotARock is the trick-or-treating version. When ElementalPowers are in play, you'll have WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway May result from ConvenienceStoreGiftShopping or a HomemadeSweaterFromHell. The {{subtrope}} that drives the engine of an UnwantedGiftPlot. For the polar opposite of this trope (where the character finds an item most people would consider cool to be lame), see WorthlessYellowRocks.

* In ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', the Grinch is subjected to sampling holiday foods, a Christmas sweater that's loud, kitschy, and has about as many lights as a Christmas tree. The worst of all takes place when Mayor Augustus May-Who gives the Grinch a hair razor so the Grinch can shave his hair. This brings back painful childhood memories, and the Grinch gives May-Who a haircut instead.

* In ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', the Grinch is subjected to sampling holiday foods, a Christmas sweater that's loud, kitschy, and has about as many lights as a Christmas tree. The worst of all takes place when Mayor Augustus May-Who gives the Grinch hair clippers so the Grinch can get a haircut. This brings back painful childhood memories, and the Grinch gives May-Who a haircut instead.