Ugly Sweater Design Contest 2026: Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. Sponsor

The Ugly Sweater Design Contest 2026 (the “Contest”) is run by Ugly Sweaters LLC, a Florida limited liability company, 7901 4th St N #37264, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, USA (“Sponsor”). Contact: festivefolks@uglysweaters.com.

2. Who can enter

The Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Children and anyone under 18 are not eligible. Employees and contractors of Sponsor, and the members of their immediate families and households, are not eligible.

3. Entry period

The Contest starts on November 12, 2026 when the entry form is published at uglysweaters.com/design-contest/ and ends on November 29, 2026 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time (the “Entry Period”). Sponsor’s server clock is the official clock for the Contest.

4. How to enter

Complete the entry form at uglysweaters.com/design-contest/ with your first name, email address and state, upload your sweater design (a front image, and optionally a back image), and tick the confirmations on the form. Limit: three (3) entries per person and per email address. Entries made by automated means, by anyone other than the entrant, or beyond the limit are void. Sponsor is not responsible for entries that are lost, late, incomplete or not received for any technical reason.

Within two (2) business days of receiving a design, Sponsor emails the entrant a mockup of it on a sweatshirt (for designs received on November 28 or 29, by November 30, 2026 at 12:00 noon Eastern Time). A design is entered only when the entrant confirms its mockup with the "Enter it as shown" button in that email. Designs must be received during the Entry Period, and mockups must be confirmed by November 30, 2026 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time.

5. Design requirements

Your design must be your own original work, or you must hold every right needed to use everything in it. Images you make with AI tools are welcome where the tool’s terms let you use them. Ugly, tacky, silly and cheeky are the whole point. Mean is off limits. Specifically, entries may include:

Logos, brand names and trademarks only with permission from the owner of that logo or brand (for example, your own company’s logo with your employer’s OK). Sponsor may ask for proof of permission.
Real people’s faces, photos or likenesses only with the consent of every person shown, and only people aged 18 or older.

Off limits:

public figures of any kind: celebrities, politicians, athletes, influencers and other well-known people;
sports teams, characters, films, shows, games or other material owned by someone else, without written permission;
photos or likenesses of anyone under 18;
explicit or sexual images or wording, nudity, drugs, and graphic violence or gore;
hate symbols, slurs, extremist imagery, and anything that attacks or demeans people for their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age;
harassment, threats, or content about a real person meant to embarrass or hurt them;
anything unlawful, or anything that infringes someone else’s rights.

Sponsor reviews every entry and may disqualify, and decline to print or show, any entry that breaks these rules or that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, considers unsuitable for a family-friendly holiday brand. Sponsor’s decision is final.

6. Judging

Four (4) prizes are awarded by judging and one (1) by public vote (section 6A).

Judged prizes. Eligible entries are judged by a panel from Sponsor’s team on or before December 1, 2026, using these criteria: creativity and originality (40%), humor (30%) and ugly-sweater holiday spirit (30%). The four highest-scoring entries, other than the People’s Choice winner, win. Ties are broken by the creativity and originality score, then by a further vote of the panel. The judges’ decisions are final. Purchases, votes, social media likes and shares have no effect on judging.

Each person can win one prize. No part of the Contest is decided by chance.

6A. People’s Choice voting

After Sponsor checks an entry against section 5 and the entrant confirms its mockup, it appears in the public gallery at uglysweaters.com/design-contest/, and Sponsor may also post it on its social media channels. Anyone may vote during the Entry Period by entering their email address on the gallery and confirming the vote through the link Sponsor emails them. Each email address may cast one (1) vote for each entry. Voting closes November 29, 2026 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time; an entry confirmed after that is judged but collects no votes. The eligible entry with the most confirmed votes wins the People’s Choice prize; a tie is broken by the judges’ score. Likes, comments and shares on social media are not votes. Sponsor may discount votes it reasonably believes were made with fake, disposable or automated email addresses, or through any other attempt to manipulate the vote, and may disqualify an entrant involved. Voters must be 18 or older.

7. Prizes

Five (5) prizes. Each prize is one all-over-print sweatshirt printed with the winner’s design, in the size the winner chooses from the sizes offered (2XS to 6XL), shipped free to the winner’s address in the United States. Approximate retail value: US$99.99 each. Total approximate retail value of all prizes: US$499.95. Sponsor may adjust the layout so the design fits the sweatshirt’s print area, and the winner approves a proof before printing. Prizes are not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash. Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize becomes unavailable. Sponsor aims for delivery before December 25, 2026; delivery dates depend on the carrier.

Already bought it? If a winner bought a sweatshirt printed with the same winning design from Sponsor before being notified, the winner may choose, instead of the prize sweatshirt, a refund of the amount they paid for one (1) such sweatshirt, up to US$99.99, made to the original payment method. Only one sweatshirt is refunded, however many were ordered.

8. Winner notification

Winners are announced first on Sponsor’s social media channels (Instagram @buyuglysweater, TikTok @buyuglysweater and Facebook) on December 1, 2026, and are then notified by email, at the address used to enter, the same day. A winner must reply within 48 hours with their size, US shipping address and the confirmation in section 9. A winner who does not reply in time, who cannot be contacted, or who is found ineligible forfeits the prize, and Sponsor may award it to the next-highest-scoring eligible entry.

9. Winner photo

As a condition of receiving the prize, each winner agrees to send Sponsor at least one photo of themselves wearing the prize sweatshirt within 14 days of delivery. Only people aged 18 or older may appear in the photo. Each winner confirms this by email before the prize ships.

10. Use of entries, names and photos

You keep ownership of your design. By entering, you give Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide permission to show, copy and publish your design, together with your first name and state, on Sponsor’s website, in emails, on social media and in advertising, presented as a customer design or contest entry, for up to two (2) years after the Entry Period ends. By accepting a prize, a winner gives Sponsor the same permission for their winner photo, first name and state, presented as a contest winner, with no payment beyond the prize, except where the law requires otherwise. Sponsor sells products carrying your design only to you, unless you give separate written permission. To have your design or photo taken down from the website, email festivefolks@uglysweaters.com; Sponsor removes it within 30 days.

11. Mockups and optional purchase

Sponsor emails every eligible entrant a mockup of their design on a sweatshirt, with an optional link to buy it. Buying is entirely optional, has no effect on judging, and is a separate purchase under Sponsor’s normal terms of sale.

12. Personal information

Sponsor uses the information you give to run the Contest, send your confirmation and mockup, and contact winners, as described in the Privacy Policy. Entrants and voters join Sponsor’s VIP email list (contest news, offers and party ideas); every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing has no effect on an entry or a vote. Only an entrant’s first name, state and design are shown publicly. Voter email addresses are never shown.

13. Taxes

Winners are responsible for any taxes on their prize.

14. General conditions

By entering, you agree to these Official Rules and to the decisions of Sponsor. Sponsor may cancel, suspend or change the Contest if fraud, a technical failure or any other cause beyond its control affects its fair running, and may then judge the eligible entries received up to that point. To the extent the law allows, entrants release Sponsor and its members, employees and agents from any liability arising from the Contest or any prize, and Sponsor’s total liability is limited to the value of one prize. These rules are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, and any dispute is resolved only in the state or federal courts located in Pinellas County, Florida.

15. Social media and other platforms

The Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, OpenAI or ChatGPT. Entrants release those platforms from any liability connected with the Contest.

16. Winners list

For the first names and states of the winners, email festivefolks@uglysweaters.com with the subject “Design Contest winners” before December 31, 2026.