Elf Yourself 2008: For Office Max or Jib Jab?

Office Max has launched the popular "Elf Yourself" holiday campaign for the third year in a row. This time, there are a few differences... most notably, the site is now powered by the folks at Jib Jab. In addition, you can now purchase items such as mugs, cards and ornaments with your elf creations through the Jib Jab store. But will this campaign be able to top the staggering 193 million visits it garnered last year?

There are a few limitations this year that may affect performance:

• Registration required - Visitors can't pass along to others without registering for Jib Jab


• Pay to download - The only way visitors can download the video they create is by paying $3.99


• Jib Jab takes over - Office Max branding is very minimal, and visitors are eventually taken to a pure Jib Jab experience... the URL even redirects to elfyourself.jibjab.com.


• No webcam support - What is this, 1999? Every new laptop has a webcam in it... why doesn't the site support webcams?

From my vantage point, this year Office Max gave too much power to Jib Jab. While I do think the quality of site is great, and the purchasing of products is genius, I see this campaign being more effective for Jib Jab than for Office Max.