A relatively ordinary online shopping experience: was sent by the band's website to an independant retailer for their fairly obscure CD. All normal, as expected - provide credit card, get confirmation email, etc. etc.

But something made it special. I don't usually look at the shipment status email, but just before deleting, this stopped me, made me smile:

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Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved 'Bon Voyage!' to your package, on its way to you, in
our private CD Baby jet on this day, Friday, December 1st.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby.  We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year".  We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you once again,

Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little CD store with the best new independent music

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I am the world's biggest marketing cynic. Almost nothing that's been crafted for me escapes my x-ray bulls**t radar. But this struck me as sweet, very self-aware of how corporate thank-yous tend to come across.

Smart, sweet. I didn't choose to shop at CD Baby - but I will, next time. I'll remember them - and I think that was the whole point.