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Amazon now gets the honor of reportedly being the first company to use its packaging to advertise an un-related product.
The company is rolling out ads on its delivery boxes in bright yellow to boost the new Minions movie from the Despicable Me franchise, Geek Wire reported. Boxes began being sent to customers last week. According to Geek Wire, there are three different types of ads. There’s also a link on the box to a Minions page on the e-commerce site.
The article notes that while Amazon has used its packaging in the past to market its own products, this is the first time that it has done so for a non-Amazon product. Per Geek Wire:
This new revenue stream could be lucrative for Amazon, whose boxes can be seen on doorsteps (and in recycling bins) across the country. However, the ads aren’t likely to draw the same attention as this Minions run if they become commonplace.
It already appears to be a hit on social media, as customers have been posing with their Minions-themed boxes and posting to Twitter.
Here’s an image of the packaging:
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