Anticip...ation

When I got back to the office today after a five-day vacation (and one day working from home; thank you, boss!), this was waiting for me on my desk:

It's a promotion from the company that runs our cafeterias. And I think it's pretty brilliant.

• It says right there, in huge letters, that I WILL WIN SOMETHING if I open this.
• But...I can only open it if I go to the actual cafeteria and open it in front of a cafeteria (I'm sorry: CAFE) employee.

(Also: Let's call a spade a spade: It isn't a cafe; it's a cafeteria. You get a tray, you pick out your food, you pay, you eat. There is outdoor seating but...no.)

Anyway.

I could win a free beverage, a free lunch or a catered lunch for me and 10 of my friends (er, coworkers; not necessarily the same thing). Uh, who doesn't like to win stuff? And the company gets you into the cafeteria. If you win a free drink, chances are you're just going to go ahead and buy your lunch while you're down there. And if you win a free lunch or catered lunch, they're hoping the food is just so very tasty (...) that you'll become an instant repeat customer.

Not exactly groundbreaking (and I'm not sure a cafeteria-catered lunch could be considered "winning big"), but still smart.

But my favorite part is the "Do Not Open" element. It makes it very Christmas-morningish, and makes me way more excited than I would be if they'd just, say, a coupon dropped onto my desk.

Well-played.

(On an unrelated note, my office currently smells like burned toast and Fruit Roll-ups. What the hell are people eating in here?)

Update, 12:35 p.m.: I won...a free drink. As did every single one of the other nine people in line with me. The woman sitting at the (very sad) little table with three (very sad) balloons was so bored, just opening our envelopes and saying "Free drink, redeem over there. Free drink, redeem over there," over and over and over. I wanted to ask her if she'd given away anything but free drinks all day, but I was afraid that might destroy her very last bit of will to live.