H & R Block Pen by J de Salvo

“So, your idea is, we let them keep the pen, huh? I don’t see how that helps us.”

“Really? You don’t see it?”

“No. It seems to me they use it until it runs out, or they lose it. Either way I don’t see it making it through to next tax time; at least not without ending up in the bottom of some drawer somewhere; out of sight, out of mind.”

“But that’s where you’re not seeing it. Look at this pen for a minute.”

“I can see it just fine right here.”

“Pretty nice, isn’t it?”

“Not really. I’ve got tons better pens than that.”

“Ah, but that’s you. To you it may be just average. But somebody like you probably hasn’t so much as touched a stick ballpoint in years. Trust me, to most people this is a step up. It’s not a pen they want to lose. By the end of the year, they’ll almost feel bad if they don’t come here, without really knowing why. ‘This is stupid,’ they’ll say, but they’ll end up coming here anyway. When the critical moment of choice arrives, they won’t be able to think of anywhere else off the top of their heads. That’s the power of our brand.”

J de Salvo is the editor of the Bicycle Review. His stories and poetry have appeared in a kajillion little magazines, and his articles have been published on the front pages of independent newspapers for ridiculously low rates. He is a native of Los Angeles, and now lives in Oakland, CA.