As the originator of the sadface thread, I feel that it falls upon me to announce the poll for Sadface of the Year, 2011. As part of a rigorous process to select the candidates I have waded through this year's sadfaces to select what I feel are the ten strongest contenders. I have been strict and excluded 'you couldn't make it up' faces and anyone who fails the 'people like us' test, ruling out disabled sadfacers (i.e., "benefit scroungers"), and the homophobic and Christian (but black) potential foster parents. Good sadfaces ruined by family members smirking, gurning, or genuinely not taking it seriously have also fallen by the wayside.

(1) Binbag sadfaces. Jan 2011


(2) Broken shower sadface.


(3) Told to use a torch until streetlight was fixed sadface.


(4) £1,000 bill on mother's debit card playing XBox online sadface


(5) Charity shop/elf 'n' safety sadface.


(6) Bus crash sadface. N.B. Dangerously close to failing PLU test, but no visible tatts or piercings, so benefit of doubt given.


(7) Wheelie bin sadface.


(8) Persecuted Christian sadface (points for coming back repeatedly like a recurring nightmare?).


(9) Out of control shrubbery sadface.


(10) Excess luggage (i.e., enormous flag) sadface.


It's notable how the quality of sadfaces declined heavily over the year, as the DM got more and more desperate for content and started nicking any old crap from the local papers. An ever increasing array of pierced and/or heavily tattooed sadfacers emerged, failing the PLU test miserably as the months rolled by.

It would be possible to have a separate top ten just of wheelie bin/refuse collection sadfaces, but for the sake of brevity, it has been necessary to just pick the best examples.

I'm thinking Sadface 10 is the clear favourite here.

How does one vote?

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

Use the poll at the top of the post.

There's still 28 days for the DM to come up with an even better one.

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Sick Left-wing Zealot.

This is impossible. I can tell I'm going to take actual time from my actual life to think about it. Curse you, Tom.

My early frontrunner is #2. Her glare in the left-hand photo is positively satanic.

I do think there's been a recent seasonal improvement in sadfacing after what was, I agree, a long barren spell. It's just as well the knob who tried to sue the university of London for its 'sexist' gender studies course opted to sadface for the Standard, not the Mail, otherwise I'd have pollbombed this.

The minute I saw this thread title i thought of the charity shop pic, without even having to be prompted. A sadface (x4) that memorable has to get my vote. So it did.

I had to go for the charity shop one, too. Individually the champion has to be begrudged ex-soldier man, whilst the droopiest face is definitely torch-lady. What clinched it was the sheer quantity of sadfacery, combined with a burning fury at the fact that the rules do, in fact, apply to them too.

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Soppy anti-British, pro-crime, anti-education, pro-immigration, anti-family nonentity

I voted for number 10. All the required elements are there. Plus he is a fucking pensioner HERO.

Trump card . End of.

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I'm a nasty, violent lefty. You cunt.

Number 10 did benefit from those factors and also from the fact it was a trumped-up story with the "baddies" actually acting perfectly reasonably but I've gone for the wheelie bin - never before has one simple plastic object aroused so much ire in the breasts of little Englanders and never before have so many non-stories arisen from such unfertile ground. Cue Dads' Army theme music ...

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Blog on books and book-related matters | Common English Errors For Bloggers | Things that mildly irritate me

Important point. Are we voting on the sadface itself, or the story behind it? Kinda irrelevant, I've already voted!

I voted for number 10, but the post brought back some fond memories.

10 certainly ticks all the boxes but so does 2 and the wheelie bin sadface is just brilliant

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"Affirmation sells a lot better than information. Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they’re right?"

Wheeliebin for me to, not only a brilliant sadfacetm but the subject matter is vintage DM.

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"..The Daily Mail - not so much a newspaper as an idiot's guidebook issued in bite-size daily installments" Charlie Brooker

Oh dear. I started out thinking I should disqualify anyone who wasn't folding their arms, till I got to no. 10. Then I started wondering about the merits of the quadruple sadface as against rubbish related sadfaces, till I got sidetracked by the sheer wonder of the fact that torch woman chose a torch to match her jumper. As ezinra says, this is going to take up some valuable thinking time.

I couldn't make my mind up, so I just did what my dad did when doing the pools and stuck a pin in the cat.