DALLAS — Hoping to boost holiday sales, Dell has enlisted Burt Reynolds, right, Ice-T and other celebrities to help customers raise money to buy products for themselves or others.
Through a new website launching today, visitors to will be able to create a virtual piggy bank where friends and relatives can donate money for gifts. There are tools to create e-mail distribution lists, and gift-seekers can embed their fundraising requests on their Facebook and MySpace pages.
Actress Estelle Harris, who played George Costanza’s nagging mom in the sitcom “Seinfeld,” solicits funds through the “guilt sell”: “Not that it’s any of my business, but you usually get them a thoughtless gift every year anyway,” she groans. “Would it kill you to get them something nice this holiday season?”
Consumers must be 18 or older to enlist in the virtual fund and have a PayPal account to receive money.
Admittedly, there’s no way to guarantee the money will be used for Dell gear, said David Clifton, the marketing and communication director of Dell’s consumer business.
With the popularity of social Internet hangouts like Facebook, Clifton said the strategy tries to get consumers engaged with one another on Dell products, rather than Dell just pitching them directly.
Dell tried a similar tactic approach this fall for students seeking notebooks and other gear, and company executives said its success led them to expand on the idea for the holidays, Clifton said.
