The Little Drummer Boy Challenge, styled LDBC, is an informal internet competition in the United States to avoid hearing any version of the song "The Little Drummer Boy" for the duration of the Christmas and holiday season shopping period beginning at 12:01 am on the day after Thanksgiving, and extending until December 24, Christmas Eve.
[5] Participants have, since 2014, been able to post "elfies" to the official Facebook page showing their horror when they hear the song and lose.
[6][7] To support players, Peck in 2018 published a list of "toxic media" which has caused others in the past to lose the game.
Winning requires not hearing even a snippet of "The Little Drummer Boy" between Black Friday and Christmas Eve inclusive,[6] the only exception being that being deliberately ambushed by someone singing or playing the song results in a loss for the offender, not the victim.
The most significant difference is the start and end dates; in one version, for example, the game begins when Christmas music is first played in stores.