Music

Wham!s Last Christmas is banned up until Christmas Day in all Fullers pubs for a very good reason

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Whamageddon
Are you playing Whamageddon? (Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Last Christmas by Wham! is one of the most popular and enduring Christmas songs of all time, and is a staple on radio stations and music channels throughout December.

But if you want to belt out the chorus in a Fullers pub, youre out of luck.

The pub group has banned Last Christmas from the 231 pubs they directly manage across the UK until midnight on 24 December.

However, its not because theyre not Wham! fans, or that theyre feeling particularly Grinchy.

Fullers are hoping to help out players of Whamageddon, after Absolute Radio jumped on the bandwagon.

The rules of Whamageddon, as explained by its official website, are as follows: The objective is to go as long as possible without hearing WHAMs Christmas classic; Last Christmas.

The game starts on December 1st, and ends at midnight on December 24th. Youre out as soon as you recognise the song.

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While we cant stop you from deliberately sending your friends to Whamhalla, the intention is that this is a survival game. Not a Battle Royale.

Fullers decided to axe Last Christmas from their playlists to assist players in avoiding Whamhalla (where you go when you hear George Michael crooning), and will even compensate you if they break the rules themselves.

Managing director of Fullers Jonathon Swaine told The Drinks Business: Were big fans of Absolute and we want to get behind this. We have removed Last Christmas from all our playlists.

Fuller's
Fullers are playing by the rules (Picture: Hoberman Collection/UIG via Getty Images)

If in the unlikely event that one of our customers hears Last Christmas in one of our pubs, we will give them a free drink on the house.

One of the creators behind Whamageddon, Thomas Mertz, told Munchies: The incarnation weve put online on Whamageddon.com has been going on for a little more than ten years by now.

It was a matter of realising some ten odd years ago exactly how much airtime the song was getting. Dont get me wrong. Its a good song. Buuuuut … too much of anything is too much. So we started running the gauntlet.

However, its only the Wham! version that will get you sent to Whamhalla, so if the cover version by Billie Piper, Hilary Duff, Jimmy Eat World, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen, Whigfield, Alcazar, Cascada, Joe McElderry or indeed the Crazy Frog comes on, fill your boots.

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Although Fullers and Absolute Radio are playing by the rules of Whamageddon, not everyone is so keen.

Tesco tweeted earlier this month: We considered removing Last Christmas from our stores for #Whamageddon… but the very next day we thought it should stay! For those who like to play on hard mode, let us know if youve made it through a Tesco!

Just four days left to go.

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