With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, not to mention a second national lockdown in the UK, chances are you'll be doing a touch of online shopping over the next month. And if it's with Amazon, you might just have a surprise in store – featuring a short, moustachioed Italian plumber. (Now there's a sentence).
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, Nintendo has teamed up with Amazon to create a series of packaging boxes featuring the Bros. themselves, Mario and Luigi. Check out our Black Friday Amazon and Cyber Monday deals for the best offers (which may or may not arrive in a Mario-themed box).
(Image credit: Amazon/Nintendo)
The designs feature Mario and Luigi in various guises from their 35-year history, from their pixellated NES form to full 3D. Amazon has also launched a Super Mario microsite filled with trivia about the franchise. "If you order from Amazon this November," Amazon says in a press release, "your package may be delivered in a Super Mario Bros. ™ branded box." And it seems some customers have already received theirs:
Amazon’s Mario-themed boxes are cute. (Wish Hyrule Warriors was inside, though.) pic.twitter.com/vCWCVufQNANovember 3, 2020
But if you actually want to get hold of one of the limited edition boxes, it seems there's no way of playing the game. "Note that the Super Mario Bros. branded Amazon boxes are in limited quantity and will be used randomly, while supplies last," the company adds. "Purchasing Nintendo products will not increase the possibility of receiving a Super Mario Bros. branded box."
While the box designs are undeniably fun, we can't help but find the whole concept a little, erm, random. Sure, it would make sense for Nintendo products to arrive in these boxes, but we reckon there'll be more than one confused customer wondering why their toothbrush has arrived in Super Mario Packaging.
But perhaps the ultimate mind-boggler will be reserved for those who preordered their PS5 through Amazon. A Sony console in a Nintendo box? Does. Not. Compute. (Find out how to preorder your PS5 here.)
Mario isn't the only gaming mascot celebrating a milestone anniversary, with Sonic The Hedgehog turning 30 next year. Time will tell whether we'll be treated to any cardboard boxes featuring the blue blur, but Sega has already revealed a very cool logo to mark the occasion.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
