Never would I have thought that something in my office would happen today that would be more entertaining than what the guys at CollegeHumor.com came up with in the post below. But, here’s my story…

As you may know, Electronic Retailer magazine is based in Southern California. However, I work out of ERA’s D.C. office. I often get mail for my California co-workers at the ERA address and I simply put it in another envelope and send it on. Earlier today, my co-worker Stephanie came into my office and placed a FedEx box on my desk addressed to our executive editor, Tom Dellner. I e-mailed Tom and told him I had a package here and asked him if he wanted me to open it and see what it was, or simply send it along in another FedEx box. Tom told me he wasn’t expecting any mail, that it was probably a press kit, and that I should just open it and make a judgment call.

As I’m opening the FedEx box, I hear my co-workers chatting down the hall. I walk into Robin Greenspan’s noisy office while slowly opening up the box. As I look inside, I see a red bag with hearts all over it. I realize it’s a personal item and my face begins to blush a bit. Everyone in the room starts asking me what it is, as my co-worker Stephanie blurts out, “It’s for Tom.” That’s where the trouble begins.

“It’s a gift!”

“Tom sent you a gift?”

“Tom Dellner??”

“Is Tom gay?! I thought he was married??”

“Is Tom having an affair?!”

Avoiding the awkward questions, I rush back to my office with Stephanie to look up Tom’s home address and ship it out ASAP. While trying to move the contents from one FedEx box to another, I see an order form that reads “Fuzzy Handcuffs,” right as Stephanie pulls them out to place in the new box. Not being able to fathom that things had escalated to handcuffs, our co-worker Christy walks by, sees our astonishment, and demands that we tell her what else was in the bag.

Acknowledging that things couldn’t get much worse, I pull out the order form and much to my surprise, a note was attached to it from a company called Quova. “Hello Tom. Relax. Don’t panic. It’s just a joke. We at Quova just wanted to send you a nice little Valentine’s Day surprise we knew would grab your attention.” The note goes on to talk about Quova’s expertise in online data security and privacy. Congratulations to Quova—your guerilla marketing tactics mortified me and certainly got our attention and disrupted our entire office.

Oh, and don’t think I wasn’t above putting the gift bag on Barbara Tulipane’s desk while she was out to lunch with a note that read, “From Your Office Crush- XOXO.”

Pat Cauley, eMedia editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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