‘Tis The Season? Scented Candles Suffer From COVID-19

Scented candles are a classic Christmas gift, right up there with gift certificates to Bath & Body Works. When you get someone a scented candle in a favorite aroma, you are showing that you’ve paid attention to what she likes. And, as SNL memorably parodied a few years back, scented candles are especially appreciated because they are easily regiftable in a pinch:

I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’d be shocked if Yankee Candle didn’t typically do something like half of its overall sales during the holiday shopping season. Well, maybe not this year. As several internet sleuths with way too much time on their hands have noted and graphed, customer reviews of usually popular scented candles on both Amazon and YankeeCandle.com have been steadily trending downward.

Yankee Candle Large 2-Wick Tumbler Candle, Balsam & Cedar on sale for $17.69

The suspected culprit? COVID-19. Loss of smell is a common symptom of the coronavirus, so it is possible that COVID-infected shoppers are buying the scented candles unable to appreciate the fragrance.

You’d think with people all across the country being shut up in side so much, candles would be in higher demand than ever. For all the procrastinating sons out there who’ve come to rely on Yankee Candle as a last-minute gift each year, here’s hoping the company is able to weather out this storm. If you don’t have COVID, do your part to help them out by buying a signature candle. If you aren’t sure if you have the virus or not, you can buy one anyway as a make-your-own COVID test. Good luck convincing your insurance to cover it.