“A new social network, powered by a range of social media-themed cards, launch today in Clintons stores nationwide. The cards offer young early adopters the opportunity to inject unrivalled authenticity into their social interactions. The cards, which offer a resolution far beyond the best screens on smartphones, have an interactive internal page that can be tailored in an infinite number of ways using a remarkably low cost stylus, available everywhere.”
Eh? Yes, you’ve guessed it, these are in fact cards. Printed greetings cards. Clever Clintons is taking the proverbial out of the modern-day obsession with all things digital media, and having a bit of fun in the process.
Thus, a unique ‘thud on the doormat’ sound signals the arrival of a message, and the new products are described as seamlessly integrating with mantelpieces for ‘sharing’. And, of course, like that nifty Ikea catalogue promo from a while back, no batteries or power cables are required.
VP of marketing Tim Fairs says: “Our polling shows that people are becoming less enchanted with emoticons, Tweets, status updates, Instagram posts, texts and Snapchats as ways of expressing and sharing emotions. There is a shift back to authenticity in the expression of emotions and we think our ‘new’ social network enables this.”
We’re liking this example of the cross-media power of print.