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What IDIOT would buy this?

the G-man

the G-man

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
'The Office' fans can now buy Dunder Mifflin paper from Staples

  • NBC's "The Office" stars a wacky cast of employees working for a fictional paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Now, after seven and a half seasons, Dunder Mifflin paper is finally real and fans can buy their own.

    Staples-owned website Quill.com will be the main retailer selling Dunder Mifflin brand paper. Though the products will be regularly priced higher than other name brands such as Hammermill, the themed paper is currently on sale now through January 31, 2012, for $34.99 for a carton (10 reams with 500 pieces of paper each) of 20-lb. 92-bright copy paper.

    The regular price for Dunder Mifflin brand paper is $74.98 through NBC's official store.


Seriously. What kind of fool would pay extra for copy paper just because it was named after a fake company on a TV show? And any office manager who had to explain why the price of copy paper just shot up ("Uh, I paid for 'Dunder Mifflin' brand paper...you know, from the TV show 'the office'...I, um, thought it would be funny while someone makes copies") would be fired.
 
I could see getting a pack of a hundred or so sheets being a little present for someone who's a big fan of the show. But yeah...buying that much to use in actual business :confused:

I can't see the effect being that great. It will probably elicit a chuckle from people who are fans of the show, but for people who aren't familiar I doubt it would even register.
 
I suppose we should just be thankful they're still selling paper.

Still, that's actually kind of funny. Also, $34.99 for 5000 sheets of 20-lb paper actually doesn't sound that unreasonable, but it's been a while since I did any ordering for an office.

Edit: I just checked Staples.com and they charge $47.99 for a similar case of Staples brand 20-lb copy paper so it might actually be a bargain.

Now, if it goes back up to the $74, then that's a bit much.

Alex
 
What kind of fool would pay extra for copy paper just because it was named after a fake company on a TV show?
Click to expand...
What kind of fool would pay more for colored sugar water that is stamped COCA-COLA when they could buy the same thing more cheaply under a generic label? (What kind of fool would pay anything for colored sugar water to begin with?)

Welcome to the entire world.
 
Temis the Vorta said:
What kind of fool would pay extra for copy paper just because it was named after a fake company on a TV show?
Click to expand...
What kind of fool would pay more for colored sugar water that is stamped COCA-COLA when they could buy the same thing more cheaply under a generic label? (What kind of fool would pay anything for colored sugar water to begin with?)

Welcome to the entire world.
Click to expand...

sojourner said:
^That analogy totally does not work.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. Thank you.

timothy said:
it would be worth it if they were autographed by the actors.
Click to expand...

Yeah, maybe. But of course it would be useless as copy paper.

I could also see if this was a charity thing where a portion of the proceeds went to a good cause (like Staples "pink ribbon" campaign against breast cancer) it might have some utility. But as someone who works in an office where we use copy paper by the crate, no one in their right mind would try to justify paying a premium in a business for what amounts to a gag gift.

And as noted below:

trekkiebaggio said:
I could see getting a pack of a hundred or so sheets being a little present for someone who's a big fan of the show. But yeah...buying that much to use in actual business :confused:

I can't see the effect being that great. It will probably elicit a chuckle from people who are fans of the show, but for people who aren't familiar I doubt it would even register.
Click to expand...

This is one of the worst product tie-in ideas I have ever heard of.
 
I'm going to have to run this past Sandra, our resident 'collector' but my guess is she'll recommend buying 10 boxes of it and setting it aside for 20 years and 'make a killing' on it (she thinks she's going to send her kids to college on Beanie Babies and NASCAR models).

My prediction is that in 20 years someone will see it, not make the connection to an old TV show and use the paper for something.
 
This reminds me of the most ridiculous item I've ever seen for sale: samples of dirt from the ground of Riverside, Iowa, future birthplace of James T. Kirk.
 
the G-man said:
'The Office' fans can now buy Dunder Mifflin paper from Staples

  • NBC's "The Office" stars a wacky cast of employees working for a fictional paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Now, after seven and a half seasons, Dunder Mifflin paper is finally real and fans can buy their own.

    Staples-owned website Quill.com will be the main retailer selling Dunder Mifflin brand paper. Though the products will be regularly priced higher than other name brands such as Hammermill, the themed paper is currently on sale now through January 31, 2012, for $34.99 for a carton (10 reams with 500 pieces of paper each) of 20-lb. 92-bright copy paper.

    The regular price for Dunder Mifflin brand paper is $74.98 through NBC's official store.


Seriously. What kind of fool would pay extra for copy paper just because it was named after a fake company on a TV show? And any office manager who had to explain why the price of copy paper just shot up ("Uh, I paid for 'Dunder Mifflin' brand paper...you know, from the TV show 'the office'...I, um, thought it would be funny while someone makes copies") would be fired.
Click to expand...

It's a novelty. That's what people are paying for. Who cares, really?
 
This ight be an interesting way to sponsor programs. Basically cut out the middleman (advertisers, and ad sales people), and have the products directly fund the show.

For example, if a particular car model gave $100 to the show for each unit sold, only 10-20,000 could certainly fund an episode.

If a small corps of fans (100,000) each spent $100 extra on the "show brand names", wouldn't it go a long way to pay for the show?

Or maybe a groupon gift card, where if enough people want it, the deal goes through, and the show gets the money quickly (a measure perhaps as effective as Nielsens). The fans can spend it when they wish (like if it's for a car, or Home Depot, or whatever company wants to partner).

People might not want to pay $10 directly for a show, but might not noticed a few cents here and there on products they normally buy.

What kind of products would you pay a few cents extra to help your favorite show?
 
In the old days, TV shows would have one or two major sponsors. The products would appear in the shows and the sponsors had a certain amount of control over the plots.
 
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