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During this time of year, companies around the world collectively kill acres of trees so that they can wish their vendors and customers a happy holiday season.

Today, on MarketingSherpa.com, I read an interesting case study about a viral holiday e-card that a company called Enlighten designed. Instead, of creating a typical card, they came up with a funny concept for an e-card: the Holiday Party Excuse Generator.

Each recipient is asked a few questions about the party they don’t want to attending. Based on their answers, the “machine” creates a personal excuse letter that can be sent to the party planner. It’s more cheeky than useful, but it’s definitely entertaining.

The company initially sent out 3,000 emails. In its first year, the microsite generated over 50,000 unique visitors. Enlighten’s corporate website traffic rose 400%. And, most importantly, it generated serious requests for proposals from 5 large corporations.

What has your holiday card done for you lately?