Amazon ships out 3,300,000 products a day to customers all over the world. In the past, you simply got a cardboard box with the ubiquitous Amazon logo, this is going to change. Amazon has just ironed out a new partnership with Universal Pictures to ship customer orders in bright yellow delivery boxes featuring cartoon characters from the upcoming “Minions” movie. The deal represents the first time Amazon has ever allowed a third party to completely brand its delivery boxes.
Despicable Me has earned almost $1.5 billion dollars at the box office and has spawned a wide array of toys, video games and stuffed animals. This is big business and of course Amazon sells all of it. On the box, is a special Amazon link that points to a portal where you can purchase all things Minions. The shipping box also contains the movie release date, which is July 10th.
Amazon told TechCrunch that the boxes will ship from “select” fulfillment centers, and will come in a range of sizes to accommodate a variety of customer orders for things like books, electronics, DVDs, toys, sporting goods and more. Different minions will grace the different sizes of boxes – Stuart is on large boxes, Bob on medium ones, and Kevin is on the smallest.
The Minions boxes are the start of something big at Amazon. Can you imagine the next time you order a print book online, the publisher might be promoting its next surefire bestseller right on the box?
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.