Everyday Gifting, Explained.
I think the number one question I get when I meet with a new maker is “What is The Whiff Co.?”
It’s a fair question for sure. If you were to look at our online presence, you’d get a pretty good idea but find it hard to articulate; almost like that one ingredient you can taste but can’t quite put your finger on. So, let’s light up the landing strip and take your finger out of its holding pattern.
…let’s light up the landing strip and take your finger out of its holding pattern.
The vision of The Whiff Co. has always remained the same: make it easy to send a meaningful gift to those you care about. In even shorter terms, it’s to normalize everyday gifting, also known as gifting ‘just because’. It’s a very simple goal at a glance, but there are a lot of terms here that need defining: what makes a gift a gift? What makes it meaningful? What makes sending a gift easy? How do we know when it’s normal? Most importantly, why are we doing this?
We’ve taken steps to answer these questions, so it’s not for a lack of trying. I think we tried to answer them all at once, and so much got lost in translation. I’ll address the most important question, “why?”, now and answer the others over time.
So, why are we doing this? Why do we spend four months designing and curating a gift box around a seasonal emotion? Why do we curate locally-made gifts? Why do we give each gift box it’s own aesthetic and design language? Because no one else is. Let’s consider the status quo:
So, why are we doing this?…Because no one else is.
Gifting out of obligation. I’m guilty of it, too. Thanks to my calendar, I’m reminded that my friend’s birthday is tomorrow and, since we have some (positive) history I should get them something. I don’t really have the time or the creativity to put something together last-minute, so I do what all noble friends do when they run out of ideas: I don’t give them a gift.
Just kidding, I do worse: I give them a gift card (to a place I’m pretty sure they’ll like) and package it inside a mass-produced card by Papyrus.
And that’s just for one friend’s birthday.
Think about the biggest gift-giving occasions of the year: Valentine’s Day, Hanukkah, Christmas. Here, last-minute gift giving is amplified by the amount of people you should probably get a gift for: your hosts, your significant other, your colleagues, your boss, your personal trainer…this list goes on. And it gets overwhelming, which means that the gift you give is likely to reflect the amount of time you spent putting it together — not much. This isn’t to say you don’t care, but if we’re being completely honest it’s really hard to tell that you do. Even with big-ticket items that everyone wants — gaming systems, televisions, phones, golf clubs — there’s little thought you need to put in because whoever you gift it to is probably going to like it.
…the gift you give is likely to reflect the amount of time you spent putting it together…
Let’s compare that with our vision:
Gifting just because. No strings attached here, simply sending a gift along to say, “Hello”. “I care about you.” “I miss you.” “I hope you’re well.” These are best kinds of gifts because of how valued you make the recipient feel. Everyone loves receiving a gift out of the blue and everyone knows how bright a day can become when they see and feel proof that someone thought about them.
Personally, I feel it represents a moment. A wonderful moment. It’s the moment someone realizes someone else cares about them, loves them, is grateful for them. Sometimes that’s all it takes to back away from the ledge, or push a little harder to achieve a goal, make one’s way back home or take a vow of life-long love. The future can be altered by a series of otherwise small, but wonderful, moments.
The future can be altered by a series of otherwise small, but wonderful, moments.
We want to help create those moments. Lots of them.
That’s it. That’s why The Whiff Co. exists — to make everyday gifting normal and wonderful, future-altering moments common.
