Not The Christmas Present Of The Year: A Ride On The Bus

Haven't figured out what to get someone you like enough to buy a Christmas present for yet? Want to get dumped by your girlfriend, dissapoint your family and create an awkward moment of silence when grandma opens the little envelope you have for her? Well, your friends at SL have the solution.

Seeing as how just about anything can be the "Christmas Present of the Year", including a poker set, everyone wants to get on the bandwagon and offer what they think is the perfect gift. In the case of SL, they haven't got a lot to offer in the ways of Christmas gifts. Seriously, they are the public transportation authority, you can't buy anything fun from them. But, alas, they have gift certificates. They recently featured the following advertisement in Metro, touting their merits in regards to Christmas presentry.

No. No. No, not ever.

Me translate.

A Christmas Present Tip: A Gift Certificate From SL
If you're tired of stressing over Christmas presents and crowds then SL has the perfect Christmas present for you. How about a gift certificate from SL presented in a silver envelope?
Re:Translation-
Are you lazy and can't be bothered to get somebody something they actually want/will use/be happy about, well then SL has the perfect Christmas gift that your friends and relations will be very dissatisfied with. How about a gift certificate to ride the freakin' bus, masqueraded as something better by hiding it in a cheap silver envelope?
The new gift certificates are available in denominations of 25, 100, and 250 kronor and are available for purchase at all SL Centers and commuter train stations.
Re:Translation-
The new gift certificates, which are very different from the the older ones (more on that later), are available in 3 totally useless amounts 25, 100, and 250 kr, we couldn't be bothered to make one that was useful in the 600 kr denomination (which is what a monthly bus card costs), because people would actually buy it. The gift certificates can be bought at all SL Centers and commuter train stations, in case you thought we were going to sell them at restaurants and sporting goods stores.
In addition to the fact that the new gift certificates now come with an envelope, they also have a new fresh look.
Re:Translation-
Not only did we realize that an envelope was probably a good idea we also thought it was a good idea to make them look different so we had a reason for giving them some attention in the paper..
-The new style feels more modern and nice and is more along the lines of SL's graphic profile, says Maria Hedström, project leader for sales campaigns at SL.
Re:Translation-
The new style now looks like everything else that has anything to do with SL: boring. Hopefully no one will accuse us of child pornography with these like they did with those bus schedules last summer, said Maria Hedström who is, seriously?, the "project leader for sales campaigns" for the Stockholm transit authority.

Well, I'm not sure who is buying these things. The amounts they come in seem really ridiculous. 25kr won't even get me to work in the morning, 100kr will get me to and from work (thanks Uncle Håkan, thanks for paying for my commute for one day), and 250kr just seems like a strange amount. Seriously, what people want is not to be able to ride the bus once a month, they want a bus card so they can take the bus, subway, and train anytime, every day, for a month. Put one of those in a silver envelope and people may buy them.

A 25kr gift certificate to ride the bus? I triple dog dare anyone to give me that.

K. Panda