Some people advertise the fact that they’re on holiday by posting hundreds of photos of tanned legs on Instagram. Some people like to tweet relentlessly from their deckchair. And then there are the people who leave a smug ‘out of office’ message on their work email account.
Travel Republic is getting in on this phenomenon with a series of amusing ‘out of office’ replies available for anyone to use. Yes, they’re not technically ads of the week, but they do promote both the company and the advantages of not checking email every five minutes. To see them all, follow this link.
As Travel Republic says in massive ASCII art letters at the top of the page, “A great holiday deserves a great out of office.”
And these are great. Some are surprisingly informative – I wasn’t previously aware of just how many lumens the sun has. Some of them are just plain mean. Who would do such a thing to a starfish?
From a writer’s perspective, these messages are inspired. They play on the typical ideas we all have of colleagues taking holiday: that they can’t wait to get away, that they’re living it up without us, and that they don’t miss work or us one bit.
The cheeky twists in each one (hopefully) make it clear that the absent contact is just kidding. Genuinely dropping the work phone in the apartment complex’s pool isn’t going to go down well with the boss.
There is sort of an expectation that a copywriter will always leave a more imaginative message on their automatic replies to email. I don’t think I’d dare leave one of these Travel Republic examples set up on mine, though. For one thing, I don’t want anyone to think I’ve fallen in love with a guy called Dimitri who enjoys wearing tight Lycra.
What’s the best ‘out of office’ message you’ve ever received – or set up? Tell us on Twitter.
‘Out Of Office’ of the Week – Travel Republic
