Released in May 2011, Cards Against Humanity is a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ party game for adults with responses that can be viewed as offensive, risqué or politically incorrect. The original game was financed through a Kickstarter campaign and was influenced by the popular Apples to Apples card game. One month after release, it became the number one selling game on Amazon.
The below image is an older screenshot from the Cards Against Humanity online store featuring the main game.
Known for their peculiar irrelevance and wit, the makers of the game go out of the way to make social statements about the worst parts of human nature. For example, for their Black Friday sale in 2014, they removed everything from their online store and replaced it with a single item: “Bullshit.”
Customers purchased over 30,000 boxes of sterilized bull feces at a cost of $6 per box.
For Cards Against the Empire, I opted to turn the attention against the original trilogy’s Imperial Regime and Emperor Palpatine.
When you’re creating copy, it’s important to stay in tune with the company’s brand, while providing an accurate account of what the customer is getting in return for their hard-earned money. Remember, customers buy solutions, not products or services. They’re looking for something that will solve a problem, make life easier or to create a better version of themselves.
Cards Against Humanity doesn’t simply offer its customers a game. It offers an opportunity to bond with a community of friends/family and an escape from the tedium of everyday life. Plus, it gives them a chance to voice their sense of humor and/or frustrations in the form of ridiculous answers to seemingly innocent fill-in-the-blank statements.
As a copywriter and content creator, it’s my job to do the same with the words I type – to encourage the customer to imagine the possibilities of using your products or services to do more, to get more and ultimately, to be more.
Until next time… May the Force be with you.