Office’rs shill for Amazon tax products
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- January
- 9
Well my tax deduction—err, my son—turns one soon, so it’s time to start thinking about filing the old 1040 and seeing how much of my hard-earned SchruteBucks I’ll be getting back from Uncle Dubya.
There’s a vast array of tax assistance software out there—TurboTax, Tax Cut, Quicken—and the folks at Amazon.com wants to sell you seemingly all of it. And they’ve turned to Dunder-Mifflin for help boosting sales. You see, if you head on over to Amazon’s Tax Central page, you’ll find Pam, Jim, Dwight, Angela and Ryan smiling back at you.
The question above their mugs: What kind of taxpayer are you? You click on a headshot to find out, for instance…
Pam Beesly Profile: Your tax preparation needs are simple, even though you came this close to having to check the “married filing jointly” box. Although you appreciate the finer things in life, you’re renting an apartment, and you don’t have any investments or children (though you put out extra candy for them, hoping just one will like you). Maybe someday you’ll become a freelance watercolor artist and your taxes will become more complex, but for now the basics will do. We’ve got the right tax software to make your filing experience as easy as possible, so you can get back to your brushes.
Jim Halpert Profile: Hey, Big Tuna, it’s not that you’re particularly worried about doing your taxes or that you don’t know how—you’ve just got better things to do. You’d rather work on your game—you were abysmal at Call of Duty, but you’re holding your own on the warehouse ping-pong table. Plus you’ve got large amounts of Jell-O to mold around various desktop accoutrements. (You should have guessed from the suspended calculator incident that Andy “Drew” Bernard would eventually punch a hole in the wall.) The right tax software will take you through the process quickly, so that you can file by April 15 while you’re waiting for the Jell-O to set.
But that isn’t the best part, not by a long shot. If you’ve ever surfed Amazon looking for an item to buy you know that the site rather creepily starts assembling a profile of the kind of things it thinks it can sell you based on the things you’ve searched for and perused. Click on a MixMaster, and you’ll see toasters, kitchen radios and recipe guides every time you log on the site thereafter.
The tax page is no exception. If you’re a Jim-type, Amazon figures you’d not only like TurboTax Deluxe, but also Jello-O gelatin. “Try new Melon Fusion for a completely unexpected office-supply salad mold. Stock up and save when you buy the pack of 24.” Or maybe you’d enjoy the Freaks & Geeks Season DVD (Ed. note: You would.) “You’re surrounded by them, so find out what makes them tick. Recognize the girl in the Journey shirt in Episode 4?” (Hint, it’s Rashida Jones sole guest spot on the show.)
Pam-types are recommended ceramic teapots and George Emerson’s A Room With A View, while the Dwight’s out there are expected to appreciate an exercise ball (great for the core) or an Atlas of Middle Earth (“You’ll need it to prepare for your journey on the Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and your Mount Doom hike.”)
And no matter who you are, you can find—surprise, surprise—all three seasons of The Office on DVD.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 1:30 pm by Brian Howard.
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