Software, America Online All New Version 5.0
date: label: date made
content: 1999
name: label: maker
content: America Online, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: This promotional CD is sealed with a cardboard backing. The product was made by America Online to invite users to install and use "America Online All New Version 5.0". The promotion includes 250 hours free for a month. The CD and cardboard has a cheetah motif with a brown background and black spots on the CD and backing. This is most likely to promote the lightning high speed access that AOL could then provide with the disc. The back has a a drawing of a face of a cheetah hiding in front of tall grass. An address label is included on the bottom indicating that this disc was a direct mail advertisment.
label: Description
content: In 1993, America Online under the direction of Jan Brandt initated a direct marketing campaign that distributed floppy disks and then CDs through various sources to encourage people to try out the internet service. The early success of the campaign led to expanding the ways of reaching people not just by direct mail, but by including them with magazines, placing promotional materials at stores like Blockbusters, and other methods. The introduction of CDs made production significantly cheaper, contributing the explosion. Jan Brandt on Quora states that at one point 50% of the CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo on it. This campaign went on for years and led to the creation of a variety of discs to appeal to diverse audiances.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Kathryn Eberhart
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2016.3019.03
label: model number
content: A1099R150
label: catalog number
content: 2016.3019.03
label: nonaccession number
content: 2016.3019
label: model number
content: A1099M150
objectType: label: Object Name
content: promotional disc
label: Object Type
content: compact discs
label: Object Type
content: software
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 in x 6 in x 1/16 in; 15.24 cm x 15.24 cm x .15875 cm