Fans of NBC’s “The Office” may dream of buying the copy paper produced in Scranton, PA by the fictional Dunder Mifflin company and its dysfunctional staff. That dream has become reality through a marketing deal by NBCUniversal and a subsidiary of Staples Inc.
Staples-owned Quill.com – an online-only office supply retailer – has acquired the rights to market copy paper emblazoned with the Dunder Mifflin logo. The regular price of $47.99 per carton compares to $39.99 (with a sale price of $27.99) for generic copy paper at the parent company’s stores, although Quill.com is currently offering a special sale price of $34.99, with a limit of three cartons per customer. The paper is also being sold by the carton or ream on the NBC online souvenir store for “The Office.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the marketing deal, NBCU will receive about 6% of the revenue from Dunder Mifflin paper sales. The two-year deal can be extended if sales targets are met.
The wrapping for each ream features well-known lines from the show, including “Our motto is ‘Quabity First’” and “Get your Scrant On.” There is no indication that the paper is actually manufactured in Scranton, or anywhere else in Pennsylvania.
RBR-TVBR observation: Can you imagine how upset a fan of the show would be if someone actually opened their ream of Dunder Mifflin copy paper and loaded the paper into a copy machine? This is a pretty smart deal from both sides. NBCU gets promotional value and Quill.com, with only a tiny advertising budget, is getting lots of free publicity – such as our story.
