So *That* is What Was Inside the Wix Box?

Flatter me and offer to ship a mystery box? At some level I was intrigued, but at the next level down, skeptical.

Choose one – curiousity or caution?

I went with the latter.

In January I got an unsolicited email message from someone at Wix. (I respect their privacy, and changed the name).

Hi Alan,

My name is Nathan, and I’m a Creative Team Leader at Wix.com. I’m reaching out to you with something a bit different 🙂

In the last few months, my team and I have been working on a new innovative concept. We have packed this concept into a free, no strings attached box that we’d love to share with you as one of our selected influencers from the Tech industry.

I know the information I have provided you is basic, but the reason is that I do not want to ruin your experience (and let’s be honest, what’s more fun than being surprised on the holidays?)

Would you be willing to share your address so we can send you the box?

Important note: we will use your address for this purpose only.

Wishing you the best and Happy New Year,

Nathan

Referring to me as one of the “selected influencers from the Tech industry” set off the most alarm bells. But so did giving out my address to a company I have never had a connection with. I know what Wix does, and have done what I could to support students who choose to use it, but the lack of good RSS feeds and a means to export content has made it low on my interest level.

I ignored it.

A second message came, same as the first, I thought I sent a reply saying “no without a clue of what’s in the box.” As I cannot locate it, that happened solely in my mind. I did want to know about the box, but it was hardly sufficient to bite off on what sounds like some marketing student’s mid-term project.

Then I forgot about the box that never came.

Now I know from WP Tavern that I missed out on a pair of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones as part of a spoof type video campaign aimed at making WordPress look bad. On one hand, it’s maybe the kind of hijinks and weird videos I did as part of DS106, e.g. posing as a Teacher With No Name:

So who am I to criticize a company for taking on a non traditional ad campaign? Like others quoted in the follow-up piece as someone who has devoted much of their efforts to developing, creating in WordPress, it seems like an odd strategy.

Did anyone else opt for the box? How are you liking the headphones?

I’m glad I ignored the box and left it sitting outside perched on a boot.. I can’t say I have any warm feelings at all for Wix, not that I did before.

Featured Image: Perched flickr photo by cogdogblog shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license modified by me wiping out the Amazon.com text and replacing it with the Wix logo in the email Nathan sent.

 Share this barking on social media

If this kind of stuff has value, please support me by tossing a one time PayPal kibble or monthly on Patreon