Swingline, that venerable stapler brand that makes the finest products available in that category, has decided to go participatory in its latest online marketing program.
You know the world has changed when a stapler company is trying to connect with its consumers through digital. Digital and the paperless world being...the antistapler if you will.
But no matter. While visiting HuffPost I saw a banner from Swingline offering me the chance to win a classic red stapler by taking a quiz that determines "What Kind of Stapler Am I?"
I clicked the banner with some trepidation. This sort of stuff can most certainly be overdone. I was expecting to answer 15 questions and then to be told that I am the Swingline XB 8000, the renegade LED electronic stapler for people who don't staple in the lines. Or the Swingline 1, the stapler for people who value classics in everything they do. Or something.
Actually it was nothing like that. They were referring to stapler as a verb, and gave me four choices as to which type of stapler (again, verb) I am. The choices are:
Slammer: Leave Stapler on Table, insert paper, bang with fist
Slider: Inserter of paper into an electric stapler
Gripper: Pick up stapler, insert paper, squeeze.
Compressor: Two handed press on a stapler sitting on a desk.
BTW, I am a gripper.
The whole thing is a clear play on the surreal popularity of the movie Office Space, which continues to hold a cult following for scenes such as this:
(Yes, that is me in a walker cameo in the first scene.)
And why not? I like the effort. I mean, I visited a stapler web site. That's pretty darned impressive. There's a contest overlay -- to win a red stapler, naturally. I'm not saying it's Subservient Chicken, but it made me smile. And that is all I want or expect from an online marketing program for a stapler. I don't want to join STAPL-R.com (imagine the royal blue reflecto logo,) the community for paper attachment enthusiasts. Thanks Acco for recognizing that. A smile is enough. And it did remind me...I need a stapler for home.
Off to Staples I suppose.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to write.
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