39 Funny White Elephant Gifts That Are Safe For Work (Mostly)
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As one of the most informal gifting exchanges, a white elephant, also known as a Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa, is the perfect opportunity to bring out your cheeky side. Gag gifts and other funny white elephant gifts are great, but the sweet spot might be small stocking stuffers that are both amusing and useful.
If it’s your first, or it’s been a while since your last, it’s worth taking a refresher on the rules. Here’s the basic gist of how a white elephant works:
- Each participant brings one wrapped gift, usually under $20, under $25, or under $50, whatever the group has decided.
- Everyone takes turns, in a predetermined order, choosing to either open a wrapped gift from the pile or steal someone else’s opened gift.
- The process repeats until all wrapped gifts have been opened.
Some rule variations exist regarding how many times a gift can be stolen, so it’s a good idea to lay out the ground rules before everyone starts swapping gifts. It’s also worth establishing a spending limit on the gifts ahead of time so people bring gifts of equal value to avoid the situation that unfolded during the white elephant on The Office.
Unlike Secret Santa, gifts will change hands multiple times in a white elephant gift exchange, meaning each gift has to be suitable for the entire group. That’s why funny, silly gag gifts are frequently brought to white elephant exchanges.
That said, the setting matters. For example, a white elephant gift exchange at a country club might see more gifts for golfers whereas one with a more diverse group of people might require finding generic gifts on Amazon. And though very popular among work colleagues, gifts you bring to your office white elephant exchange might look shockingly diferent from the gifts you swap with your friends where there’s no HR department.
That’s why, in picking out the best funny white elephant gifts, we’ve mostly stuck to humorous gifts that can work in a range of settings. These are this year’s white elephant gifts that everyone will fight over.
Best White Elephant Gifts Under $20 of 2023
Wine stoppers work just fine, but they’re nowhere near as amusing as these wine condoms. Each condom comes individually wrapped and is designed to create a water-tight seal, keeping unfinished wine bottles fresh for longer. Each package says “wine” on it, so you’re unlikely to confuse it for the real thing.
[$15; amazon.com]
Knock Knock Apology Nifty Note 
Many apologies sound like people are just ticking the boxes of what they think you want to hear. Now you can actually tick those boxes with this pad of apology notes. The “reasons for my behavior” range from sincere explanations to shifty excuses like “I was being selfish” to “someone else made me.” For folks who’ve got the inside jokes, this makes a great gift.
[$7; amazon.com]
Accoutrements Bacon Strips Bandages 
These bacon strip bandages are the most amusing way to treat your minor cuts and scrapes. With a realistic-looking print, these bandages might also work up an appetite. Each tin includes 15 bandages, plus an extra trinket.
[$8; amazon.com]
Saucemoto Sauce Holder 
Snacking on fast food at the drive-through is all fun and games until you spill barbecue sauce everywhere. Silly but useful, this sauce holder clips to a car’s air vent and holds standard-size dipping sauce containers. And, since no one uses just one sauce tray, each order includes two clips.
[$10 (was $13); amazon.com]
MunnyGrubbers World’s Smallest Violin 
The “world’s tiniest violin” plays for people’s pettiest problems, but the violin in question is typically metaphorical. In this case, you can actually play the world’s smallest violin when someone brings up their gripes. This key-chain-sized violin is battery-powered and actually plays a sad tune when you press the button. It’s a funny white elephant gift that’s guaranteed to get a few chuckles.
[$8 (was $13); amazon.com]
Lip Smacker Coca-Cola Flavored Balm 
A novelty lip balm is a fun and timely stocking stuffer for a white elephant gift under $10. This option includes 8 flavors from Coca-Cola, including Cherry Coke, Fanta, and Sprite—no ice required.
[$9 (was $11); amazon.com]
Magnetic Poetry 
Magnetic Poetry’s Little Box of Obscenities is a reminder that, while they may be called bad words, they sure feel good to say. These individual fridge magnets make for a perfect white elephant gift idea and include a mix of naughty words, plus your standard conjunctions and pronouns to help string together surly sentences. The fridge magnets come in a compact tin. They look just as good on a file cabinet as they do on a fridge.
[$9; amazon.com]
Out of the Blue Cork Toast Coasters 
As aesthetically pleasing as they are conceptually ridiculous, these toast coasters make for a funny white elephant gift anybody would be lucky to use at home or at their desk. Made from wood, they’re moisture-resistant, non-slip, and eco-smart. They’d be great conversation starters, even if the conversation perpetually began with “Wait, is that bread?”
[$16; amazon.com]
Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Guy 
We’re guessing that the best perk of working at a car dealership is watching the wacky wavy inflatable tube guy. This miniature version can be powered by an AC cord or battery, and it’s a substantial 17 inches tall, making it a great centerpiece for your next party.
[$9; amazon.com]
Kikkerland US006 USB Hubman 
Kikkerland’s USB Hubman is more charming than he is laugh-out-loud funny, but he’s still a good gift to bring to a white elephant, especially an office exchange. The device has four USB ports, and it’s a lot more fun than the average charging hub.
[$10; amazon.com]
Wahl Micro Groomsman Battery Personal Trimmer 
Wahl’s Micro Groomsman nose hair trimmer would be a fun gift to bring to a white elephant, in part to see who decides they really want it. As for its functionality, it’s compact, comes with a range of interchangeable heads, and removes nose hair painlessly.
[$10; amazon.com]
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