What the Crap Happened to the Amazon Treasure Truck?
Do you remember the thrill you felt as a child when you heard the ice cream truck coming down the street? I don’t, because my mom was one of those “fruit for dessert” people. But I always imagined it must have been an awesome feeling. When I heard about the Amazon Treasure Truck, I was totally jazzed, and I can only assume this is the adult version of that, and now I don’t feel as left out.
This fleet of trucks, which rolls though 25 US cities and 9 UK cities, is like if a Black Friday sale and an ice cream truck had a wild romantic night at a casino together and had an oopsie-baby.
These trucks, which look a little like the child-catcher wagon from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been bringing deals to people since 2015. It’s also bringing joy to Amazon, with a yearly revenue of almost $200 billion in 2018.
They take hard-to-get, trending products (think, that hot Christmas kids toy, or like…shake-weights…) and put them on this wild-looking truck, which then becomes a pop-up store wherever it goes. If you sign up, you can get a text when the Treasure Truck is in your area, and you could magically go pick up your insta-pot or whatever same day. It’s sort of like Pokemon Go for stay-at-home parents.
So, like every other good thing, the Treasure Truck all but disappeared during the pandemic (an itty bitty pop-up, crowded with people and bubbles…sounds germy). However, they still continue to offer deals that can be easily delivered to your door, sans the bubble machine and Old Navy-had-a-Circus vibe.
Amazon recently repurposed the vehicles in Seattle to deliver lunch kits and laptops to students, and care packages and masks to those in need. And they should TOTALLY keep doing that…but also…I want my deals back. I need a care package too!
Luckily, it seems that the Treasure Truck will ride again, as there are several jobs related to software engineering and clowns quality assurance for the trucks listed on the company’s career page. Also, it’s a slam dunk for Amazon, so there’s no reason for it not to return once it’s safe.
So how do you get your products on the Treasure Truck when it’s back in business? You can apply here, or simply tell Amazon the kinds of things you’d like to see on the truck. I hope they keep on truckin’. Who knew that as adults when a stranger asks us if we want something cool from their truck, we’d fight to get in line?
