Packaging Mentality

I thought the story in yesterday’s WSJ about “unboxing” videos would get more attention, and maybe it did but I missed it, or maybe it’s old news to everybody else. But the Journal described sites such as Unbox.It! and Unboxing.com, which are

part of a larger phenomenon on the Web called “unboxing.” Dozens of videos showing people unwrapping products like the new Palm Treo 680 smartphone, Microsoft Zune digital media player and the Nintendo Wii game player are appearing on YouTube, on blogs and popular technology sites. The videos are drawing thousands of viewers.

So here, I guess, is another way technology is freeing us from the yoke of lowest-common-denominator mass entertainment. Now we can watch each other open up boxes containing new products. How empowering! Anyway the Journal continues:

Marketers are getting interested. Executives at Organic, a digital marketing agency owned by ad giant Omnicom, say they’re exploring how their clients, which include Sprint, Coach and Bank of America, could use unboxing for marketing purposes.

These are exciting times. Very, very exciting.

Here’s a version of the WSJ reprinted in the Pittsburgh newspaper.