Did you know that today is Random Acts of Kindness Day? I found out about it in a completely random way – when I was shopping at crafting mecca, Michaels. Whilst crouched down in the origami paper section (don’t ask), a sales associate handed me an envelope and told me they were doing “acts of random kindness” (which was very cute). I opened it to find a $5 gift card that dulled the pain of paying so much for colorful square sheets. Accompanying the gift card was this two-sided insert:
“That’s so very nice of them,” I thought as I headed to the cash register and plunked down much more than $5. When I got home, I took a look at this explanatory insert. That’s where I thought the promotion broke down a bit.
I understand they wanted this piece to look like a chalk board – it’s very crafty feeling. But art directors, please, enough with the precious type. This card is only 3×5 but appears that it must have been designed to be 5×7 then shrunk down for cost savings, at the sake of legibility. What does it say on the back there in thin mouse type that is knockout white against a streaky grey background? After straining for a few minutes, here is what I made out:
We hope you are encouraged to participate with us in this celebration; see the Lookbook on Michaels.com for a few creative ideas to brighten someone else’s day. We’d love to know how you were inspired – share your story with us on Michaels Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using #RAOKDIY
How many people are going to make the effort to decipher this? Why were there no signs anywhere in store to indicate this? Nothing on the receipt? Nobody directing me to be sure and share about this via social media? My guess is that the vast majority of those fortunate enough to receive this free gift card are going to simply redeem it and get a nice warm feeling about Michaels – which may be enough to make the ROI worth it for the brand. By why not maximize it by having some info that, if not more strongly at least more clearly tells you how you can “pay it forward.”
When I first decided to post about the promotion, I hadn’t yet read the note card. I was just going to write about the cool guerrilla-type of in-store gimme I got at Michaels. Now I’m glad I did read through it – and here is the craft my son, husband and I made: 100 paper airplanes making up the number 100 (to celebrate the 100th day of school).
I’m even tagging this post #RAOKDIY which I suppose stands for Random Acts of Kindness Do It Yourself, leaving off “Day” for some reason. Not a catchy hashtag, as a quick Twitter search reveals…
In short: big points to Michaels for their idea, which is sure to appeal to the crafting community, from hardcore domestic MacGyvers to moms in need of a last-minute homework solution…but hopefully next year they will up their execution ante so that the results are less random.
~ @AdvertGirl, CEO, The S3 Agency, and very occasional crafter
