Source: Jonathan Leblang
Published: February 2020

Amazon Holiday Gifts to Customers

Circulated: March 3, 2020

In 1996, Amazon sent every single customer a gift. Customers (like Richard who tweeted about it in March 2019) would open the box to find a mouse pad with a quote from Groucho Marx (the popular American comedian), “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read”.

From 1997 to 2000, Amazon sent top customers and employees a holiday gift of an insulated coffee travel mug. The mugs were adorned with quotes about books and reading. The team reserved mugs so that if a customer contacted Customer Service asking why they didn’t get a mug, they could be sent one.

Below are photos of the gifts and the associated letters from Jeff Bezos.