![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbed0a913-e020-4c5f-9709-a944a5572448_800x1126.jpeg)
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.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe900878e-289b-4413-958c-9efbf4b1cffb_800x848.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f897409-536b-407f-9da5-6d117ff7d775_800x603.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a319e2-17d9-4f9c-9345-6e977c9b953d_800x644.jpeg)