NEW YORK (Dow Jones)Sometimes an exit interview just isn't enough. How to say what you couldn't or wouldn't when you got the ax?
Now, for the formerly employed who bear their old bosses a grudge, come Pink Slip Cards, a line of sarcastic greeting cards aimed at exemployers.
Seven versions are available, with cover art such as a photo of lines at a soup kitchen and other Depression Era snapshots. Salutations feature zingers such as: "Thank You! You have given me so much! First you gave me 'golden handcuffs,' and now you're giving me 'the boot' ... and I didn't get you anything!" Another: "I have to admit that I'm curious. You've laid off staff to cut costs and say that the outlook is great. But under your new business model, what exactly do you plan to produce besides accounting irregularities? Thanks for the layoff!"
Pink Slip Cards are the creation of Chris Wentz and John Zappa, who left Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) in the wake of the dotcom collapse. Wentz and Zappa were also the creators of Ticker Tape Toilet Paper, novelty rolls of TP imprinted with stocks (mainly techs) that went down the toilet in the dotcom collapse (still available for $9.99 a roll). The cards, available at www.pinkslipcards.com, can be emailed anonymously at no cost, or purchased in print for $3.99.
A Labor Department report Friday suggested the jobmarket might be on the mend, but demand for the kissoff missives remains brisk. "The Web site guys are very impressed with the traffic," Zappa says.
Some of the hardcopy cards are even winging their way around back at Dell. Zappa recounts that the person who gave Wentz his pink slip at Dell felt so bad about it that Wentz, aiming to cheer him up and also seize an opportunity, gave him some cards to discreetly pass around.
By Gene Colter, Dow Jones Newswires; 201.938.2068; gene.colter@dowjones.com
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