2020 is a year that will go down in the history books, for all the wrong reasons. However, in a year that’s been more grey clouds than silver linings, we’ve been working hard to see the glimmers of goodness. And boy, did we find some corkers. Here are our favourite fun facts from the year, in the hope that they’ll lift your spirits as much as they did ours!
Penis Pasta Sales Up By 1300%
We all remember the dark days of early lockdown when pasta and toilet roll flew off the shelves. One amusing result of this was that on the week commencing the 23rd March, Ann Summers sold more penis-shaped pasta than they had in the entire year before. Sales were up a whopping 1,300%!
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The Town of Fucking Changes its Name
We have to admit that we’re a little sad about this Austrian town agreeing to change its name to Fugging in January 2021. We can’t say we blame them though, given the activities that people partook in under the town’s sign… However, this did remind us of one of our favourite news stories ever. In a previous debate about whether to change the name of the town, the residents came under criticism from those living in another lewdly-named spot, Crap. They suggested that Fucking embrace the scandal by creating a restaurant, hotel and gift shop under the town’s name.
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92% Increase in Couch to 5k Downloads
During the first lockdown, over 850,000 people downloaded the NHS Couch to 5k app – a 92% increase compared to the same period last year. These apps aim to get people from novice to runner by following a guided programme. That’s one heck of a lot of happy hearts and feet!
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Banana Bread Bonanza
Banana bread became the home bake of choice during the first lockdown, with an increase of 525% in online searches. We’ve seen quite a lot of snarky comments about this in hindsight, but we relished the opportunity to eat somewhat healthy cake for breakfast in a time that seemed so devoid of comfort. Bring back those feel-good culinary vibes with this simple recipe. Viva la banana bread!
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The Boom in Recipe-Box Kits
Recipe-box kits have been on the rise for several years, but with restaurants taken off the agenda for much of 2020, their growth has exploded this year. One such company, the health-driven Mindful Chef, experienced a threefold growth in sales in the period between March and late April. The dealchecker content team have all tried out a recipe-box or two this year and have loved the chance to cook delicious dinners without having to plan out yet another meal!
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London Wears the Staycation Crown
While foreign travel was a little more tricky this year, domestic travel saw a real boom. Holidaycottages.co.uk ran a survey to find out where travellers were most keen to get to, and the winner was London. As the home of the dealchecker office, we were happy to see this. The city has provided some surprising treats this year – we enjoyed rooftop bars when we were encouraged to socialise outside, recreated the tropics in the Barbican’s conservatory, swam under the stars at the capital’s lidos and took many a walk amongst the trees on Hampstead Heath’s woodland.
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