The Top 50 Things Most Likely to Make you Smile

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Seeing an old friend, hearing a song that reminds you of your past and getting some good news from a loved one top a new list of the 50 simple things that are most likely to put a smile on your face.

A poll of 2,000 adults released today on World Smile Day found that despite uncertain times, most Brits consider themselves a ‘glass half-full’ person and spend half of the average week feeling happy.

Getting a thank-you from someone comes in fourth on the list of 50 simple smile inducers, with doing something to make someone else laugh or smile at five.

Eating comfort food, jumping into a bed with freshly washed sheets, finding a ten pound note in an old pair of jeans and seeing a funny video online completed the top 10.

Getting into a pair of jeans you thought were too small, seeing old people holding hands and winning £10 on the lottery also feature in the list.

So too does finding out your children have done well at school, hearing a youngster say their first word and getting a spontaneous kiss from them.

The poll, commissioned by Tetley to launch its new international Smile Challenge for cleft lip and palate charity Smile Train, also found the average Brit smiles 13 times and laughs three times every day, spending more than four hours a day feeling truly happy. They are also reduced to tears of laughter twice a week.

From funny animals to party blunders, the Smile Challenge hosts a selection of YouTube’s funniest video playlists for challengers to enjoy. The software captures how many times they smile and the results are added to a totaliser, which has been set with a goal of collecting one million smiles for charity.

Kate Diver from Tetley said: “A cup of tea can make you smile and as the research shows, it really is the little things that make a difference.

“Something as simple as catching up with an old friend, listening to your favourite song, getting your hair done or enjoying a cuddle can be all it takes to cheer up the average Brit.

“As the old saying goes, it takes fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown, so we’re challenging the nation to take the Smile Challenge, share their experience, challenge others to take part and help us raise one million smiles in support of Smile Train.”

The stats emerged as the Smile Challenge nears its first milestone of 100,000 smiles collected. The technology tailors playlists by what makes users smile the most, with 10,000 users already taking part.

Analytics from the Smile Challenge show that funny dancing and animals are generating the most smiles, followed by fails, TV bloopers and sports mishaps.

London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow are revealed as the top smiling UK cities taking part in the name of charity, with analytics from the Smile Challenge showing interesting differences by region.

Londoners laugh the most at funny dancing, whilst people from Birmingham laugh the most at funny fails. Funny dancing is generating the most smiles in Edinburgh, whilst pranks top the list in Glasgow and Leeds.

Meanwhile, over in Manchester people laugh the most at funny animals, with funny kids taking top spot in Sheffield.

And Brits are regularly expressing their mood on social media, with the average adult using the ‘smile’ emoji three times a day and the ‘sad’ or ‘crying’ emoji once.

Despite this, nine in ten Brits think we should smile more often.

Amerjit Chohan, Director of Fundraising for Smile Train UK, added: “It’s really interesting to see what makes people smile on a daily basis. At Smile Train, we understand the sheer joy a simple smile can bring to a cleft child’s face as well as those around them.

“Our partnership with Tetley will help give the opportunity for not only new smiles, but also new lives for 4,000 children with clefts. It’s wonderful to see so many people taking the Smile Challenge and helping to change the world one smile at a time.”

Tetley from the house of Tata Global Beverages and Tata Trusts are together contributing $1 million to Smile Train to enable corrective surgeries for children with cleft lip and cleft palate.

Tetley Smile Challenge: Top scoring video playlists making us smile

1. Funny dancing
2. Funny animals
3. Fails
4. TV bloopers
5. Sports mishaps

Top 50 things most likely to make you smile

1. Seeing an old friend
2. Hearing a song that reminds you of your past
3. A bit of good news for a loved one/friend
4. Getting a thank you from someone
5. Doing something that makes someone else laugh/smile
6. Eating comfort food
7. Getting into bed with freshly washed sheets
8. Finding a ten pound note in an old pair of jeans
9. Looking back at old photographs
10. Seeing a funny video online
11. Winning a tenner on the lottery
12. Walks in the country
13. Getting a nice message from a loved one
14. Waking up on a sunny day
15. Sitting in the sun
16. Cuddles
17. Listening to your favourite song
18. Booking a holiday
19. Landing at the holiday airport
20. Being surprised with flowers or chocolates
21. Someone offering an elderly person their seat on the bus / train
22. Someone giving you their car parking ticket when you arrive in a car park
23. Fitting in to a pair of jeans you thought were too small
24. Finding a bargain in the sales
25. Old people holding hands
26. Someone telling you you’ve lost weight
27. Bumping into someone you haven’t seen for ages
28. Getting a quiet moment to myself
29. Chocolate
30. The smell of freshly baked bread
31. Sunday dinners
32. Finding out your children have done well at school
33. People carrying their babies
34. Making a new friend
35. Hearing your child say their first words/smile
36. Waking up to find out it has snowed overnight
37. Driving a car with the window down on a sunny day
38. Finding out someone likes you
39. Getting a new hair-do
40. A good hair day
41. Passing a driving test
42. Getting praise from your boss after working hard on something
43. Getting spontaneous kiss or cuddle from your children
44. Getting the answers right when watching a TV quiz
45. Sleeping children
46. Babies
47. Swimming in the sea
48. Waking up on a Saturday morning and realizing it is the weekend
49. Having a girlie night / lads night
50. Being made a cup of tea

Take The Smile Challenge at tetley.co.uk/smilechallenge and share your results with the Tetley Tea Folk @Tetley_Teafolk or via Facebook.com/TheTetleyTeaFolk #TetleySmiles

ENDS