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Modesty becomes Dad
Survey: Items with 'World's Greatest Dad' emblazoned on them top list of undesirable gifts.
June 18, 2004: 3:02 PM EDT
By Parija Bhatnagar, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Here's a tip on how not to make Dad's day a sad day this weekend: toss the tie, socks, sweater -- and anything that says "World's Greatest Dad."

 QUICK VOTE  
What's your idea of a lousy Father's Day gift?
  Tie
  After-shave lotion
  Tools
  Electronic gadgets
  'World's Greatest Dad' shirt

   View results

A survey conducted for Best Buy, the electronics retailer that doesn't sell any such stuff, found that No. 1 Dad! knickknacks rank as the gifts fathers most hate to unwrap, at 28 percent of the fathers polled.

Another 24 percent said they don't like to get ties, while 15 percent prefer not getting sweaters.

Then there were the 14 percent of dads who said they had no desire for self-help books -- which can be purchased at some Best Buy stores -- while 13 percent said "No" to socks.

"Father's Day is an interesting holiday because a lot of Dads don't go out and say that this is what they really want," said Brian Lucas, spokesman for Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy, the nation's No. 1 purveyor of gadgets and gizmos.

Even though slightly more consumers will be celebrating Father's Day this year, they will be spending less on the holiday, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Consumers on average plan to spend $86.19 on a gift for Dad, down from $99.65 last year, the NRF said.

So what does Dad want this year?

Tech gadgets -- Best Buy's strength -- such as plasma TVs, digital cameras, MP3 players, and mobile phones or satellite radios, according to the Best Buy survey.

Dad's also keen on tools, sporting goods, or something homemade like breakfast in bed, which aren't sold at Best Buy.

The survey was conducted for Best Buy by research firm Click IQ, and polled a sample of 509 dads around the country.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.  Top of page




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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.