Girl scout cookies anyone?

Peanut Butter Pattie + Peanut Butter Sandwich + Thin Mint

And the award for most brilliant marketing scheme of all times goes to - The Girl Scouts of America! Just a few days ago, it dawned on me. These girls have it all figured out. The perfect business plan.

As I walked into my Manhattan office tower, I saw them standing in the lobby. Three little girls in their spotless, green little uniforms, supported by their proud moms, standing by a plastic folding table stacked with cookies. Impossible to pass them unnoticed. "Hello Sir! Do you want to buy some cookies?" How can you say no to that? Three boxes. Done. Into the elevator. Up. Out of the elevator. Into the office. On every single desk: cookies. Two boxes, three boxes. Five boxes.

Flashback: a year ago, different company. Girl scout cookie season. A female co-worker working the office, one desk at a time. In her hand: a sign-up sheet for her daughter's girl scout cookie sales contest. What are you going to do? Say no, and feel the abuse for weeks to come? Hell no. "Yeah, sure, sign me up for three. Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwich and Thin Mints" Done. And I don't even like cookies. Oh well. You can always share the love and make some friends, right?

Sitting in my cubicle, and thinking of all the millions of boxes of girl scout cookies being sold simultaneously, I couldn't help but wonder - is there a gigantic girl scout cookie factory somewhere in the U.S., with little girls mixing flour, eggs, and chocolate chips? Can't be. That would be child labor. So it must be a legit business. With a real CEO, factory workers, full-time employees, a truck fleet, a marketing and a distribution strategy.

Wait - distribution strategy? Of course! Little girls, working for free, in every state, county, and city in America! Being supported - for free - by their moms and dads, leaving no stone unturned. Simply brilliant! Payroll for sales force - zero. Commission for sales results - a badge. Motivation of sales force - purely intrinsic!

If only the people at the post office showed some of the commitment these little girls do...

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.