Trying for more smiles? Amazon rolls out quirky mix of new slogans on Prime delivery vans

An Amazon Prime delivery van parked near the company’s Seattle’s headquarters features a new slogan related to what’s inside the vehicle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Amazon is rolling out a collection of eye-catching new slogans on its Prime delivery vans, playing off what just might be inside its fleet of blue vehicles.

GeekWire spotted several vans in downtown Seattle with at least a couple different messages on the sides and back, including, “Warning: Contents may cause happiness,” and “That thing you wanted? It’s right. In. Here.”

The Amazon and Prime smile logos are still on the vans, but reduced in size from previous iterations.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed that the branding campaign started on Feb. 1 and more vans and slogans will be seen across the U.S. in the coming months. The spokesperson did not know what some of the other messages might say, and said for now the campaign would be exclusive to vans and not be on packaging or elsewhere.

An Amazon Prime delivery van in downtown Seattle with a new branding message. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
(GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Previous branding on Amazon vans, including the company’s new Rivian electric vans, featured a much larger Prime and smile logo on the sides of the vehicles. Larger trucks, such as 18-wheelers, often feature a slogan on the back that reads, “There’s more to Prime. A truckload more.”

Amazon’s delivery fleet is still predominantly gas powered, but more of the Rivian electric vans are showing up in U.S. cities. The unique shape of those vans makes them difficult to miss, and one driver told GeekWire last fall that “it’s like driving a spaceship.”

The van’s blinking headlights and a red taillight that rings most of the back door of the vehicle definitely give off a spaceship vibe.

An Amazon electric van by Rivian. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Amazon’s shipping costs have spiked in recent years as the company aims to speed up delivery with its push for one-day shipping. The company is also now dealing with increased transportation and fuel costs. During Q4, Amazon spent $24.7 billion on shipping, up 4% year over year.

Amazon said in its fourth quarter earnings release that it made same-day delivery “even faster” in major U.S. metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Portland, Ore.

Last August, the company released numbers related to the growth of its Delivery Service Partners program, saying 3,000 independent companies now deliver more than 10 million packages for Amazon each day, employing 275,000 people and generating a combined $26 billion in revenue in the last four years.

The previous branding on Amazon Prime vans. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
A tractor trailer with the Prime logo and a familiar slogan, as see on I-90, east of Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)