A new study has found that 58% of Irish people have been ‘ghosted’ by a friend or family member in the past year.
The phenomenon of ghosting could be leading to Irish friendship groups shrinking.
A decade ago, the average person says they had 5.6 ‘close friends’ – but today that has fallen to just 4, a drop of 27%.
Furthermore, 5% say they now have no close friends at all – a 40% rise on a decade ago.
While more than a quarter (28%) say a close friend has ghosted them in the past year, more than one in ten (13%) say their best friend has, and 17% have even been ghosted by a family member.
As well as being ghosted themselves, many admit to having ghosted someone else – 46% say they have done so in the past year and there are multiple reasons for this.
Over a third of people (41%) say they have simply drifted apart and 26% say they ghosted someone because they were simply ‘in a different life stage’.
To counter this trend, Krispy Kreme is calling on you to use the most ghostly time of year, to reconnect with former friends by trick-or-treating them to a free box of doughnuts.
People across Ireland are encouraged to bring friendships back from the dead by sending anyone they’ve lost touch with a hauntingly empty Krispy Kreme ‘Ghosted Box’. The empty boxes will be filled with delicious Original Glazed doughnuts for free when taken into any Krispy Kreme shop.
That is if you’re interested in getting them back, if not you can just eat the donuts yourself.