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Retailers Jazz Up Gift Cards

One beef about gift cards has been that they are impersonal. A piece of plastic with a magnetic strip and a note telling the recipient exactly how much you spent. So some retailers are finding creative ways to give it added punch.

One Circuit City gift card works as a DVD when inserted into a PC. It includes a snowball-fight video game, as well as an offer for 50 free downloads from eMusic, holiday screensavers, wallpaper and printable gift labels.

Best Buy sells a SpongeBob SquarePants DVD gift card with games such as "Creature from the Krusty Krab," printable coloring sheets and a "Jellyfish Jam" music video. Another card comes with a sharply ridged edge that can also be used as an ice scraper.

Target, which has been one of the most creative gift card retailers, has a new one inspired by Nintendo's Wii that glows with blue light at the touch of a button. Another Target card features a close-up of the furry red Sesame Street character Elmo, who giggles with the press of a button.

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Read the whole story at The Washington Post »

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