November 27th, 2006
As Seen in The Office
Posted by
Michael Calienes in
ad commentary
A few weeks ago, product placement media strategists made it possible for the STAPLES Mailmate to make its cameo appearance on a recent episode of The Office, just in time for the holidays. During the episode, Kevin, the large oafy character with a silly giggle-laugh, is given the shredder pictured at right. They may as well have given him scissors and a paper cup for the paper slivers. I've had a shredder like this. Believe me, it has a capacity of about three envelopes and one fake credit card issued to "YOUR NAME HERE". which means you spend more time emtying the shredder than you spend shredding documents. It really took all the fun out of shredding.
During the scene in The Office, Kevin tests the shredder's powers by inserting a CD in the slot. Yes, the shredder ate it up. What they didn't show is he had to empty the bin immediately thereafter. Is the power to shred a CD actually necessary? I mean, only after hearing Margaritaville on my wife's CD player in the kitchen have I ever felt the need to shred a CD.
It's surprising The Office agreed to feature a model as small as this during the STAPLES' "Find unexpected gift ideas" campaign. Granted, if my wife purchased this shredder for me, I certainly would categorize it as "unexpected", as she knows darn well I want a 80GB video iPod I'll use for 2 weeks, as well as an American made Gibson Les Paul she won't agree to until I sit on a mall Santa's lap and ask him.
At the very least, STAPLES should have featured a larger capacity shredder. No self-respecting paper company would destroy documents — or CDs — in anything smaller than a garbage truck. If STAPLES carries anything that size, it would better fit The Office, not to mention how much more "unexpected" a present that size would be.
