Attack of the Drones
(FORTUNE Small Business) – WANT TO COMMAND A WORKFORCE of hundreds with the flick of a wrist? Cubes--Lego-like miniaturizations of corporate drudgery--may be for you. Each $12.95 Cube set comes with a posable figurine and all the necessary plastic parts to erect an all-too-familiar corporate cubicle, including desk, file cabinet, in- and out-boxes, and computer. The sets also include a job title sticker sheet ("so you can create a convoluted and meaningless position for your employee," according to the Cubes website, cubefigures.com) and tiny motivational posters, all the better to crush the will of your plasticized drones. The Cubes are the latest runaway hit for Accoutrements, a Seattle-based kitsch-making company also responsible for dashboard hula girls and Jesus action figures. Accoutrements toys have been decorating cubicles since the company was founded 26 years ago, so it seemed "a natural" to develop toy cubicles, says the president of Accoutrements, Mark Pahlow. Since introducing the Cubes in December 2004, Accoutrements reports it has sold "more than 10,000 sets." Its most recent offering--corporate zombies with glow-in-the-dark faces and hands--comes out this month. |
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