J.C. Penney's Strategy For Combatting Expected Lag in Holiday Sales? 80 Million Pinback Buttons!

J.C. Penney has found a fun, unique way to incorporate buttons into its holiday strategy...and it's possible you could win "a trip to Disneyland, tickets to Ellen Degeneres' show, or merchandising or gift cards from J.C. Penney" because of it! The promotion begins the day after Thanksgiving - Black Friday - and you can sign up here to be alerted as soon as the countdown clock reaches zero. Here are the details, via USA Today:

Starting Black Friday through Christmas Eve, Penney's employees will be handing out more than 80 million small, holiday-theme circular buttons to customers. Each has a code on the back that, when entered on J.C. Penney's website, reveals whether a customer has won prizes such as a trip to Disneyland, tickets to Ellen Degeneres' show or J.C. Penney merchandise or gift cards. "Instead of mailing out millions of coupons, we'll be handing out millions of buttons," said CEO Ron Johnson in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, touting the retailer's new strategy, which downplays sales and promotions. "We believe in acts of generosity."

The button promotion comes at a time when J.C. Penney is struggling to meet sales projections and expectations for the holiday season are low. Hey, we can't think of a better way to inject some life and excitement into the holiday season than with some buttons! So we hope J.C. Penney finds a great deal of success with their promotion. If any of you take part, and end up winning, come back here and let us know! Brighid Brown - Director of Blogging and All Things Cool at ABM