Playing cards make ideal promotional items. They are small, relatively inexpensive, and, when made with high-quality materials, can still project a sense of quality and sophistication.
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| Nintendo company brochure - mid 1950s |
One side of each card can be used for almost any message a company wants to convey: a product, a brand, or an eye-catching image, all printed in full color. And because playing cards are meant to be used again and again, the recipient is exposed to that message repeatedly over a long period of time.
For many playing card manufacturers, custom promotional decks have been an important part of their business. Nintendo, too, offered this service for decades, as this company brochure from the 1950s makes clear:
"Nintendo’s PR playing cards are a new and highly effective way to promote your company or shop through the enjoyment of card games. By placing your company’s logo or products on the cards and presenting them as gifts to retailers and customers, you can create a clever and memorable form of advertising that helps support your company’s continued success. We encourage you to make full use of Nintendo’s PR playing cards."
In fact, Nintendo still offers this service today. If you go to their Japanese website, you can find a page that explains the multiple options you have to order custom Nintendo playing cards, with a minimum order size of 3,000 decks.
The text on the site mentions:
"Would you like to make your own playing cards? We can create original playing cards just for you, with card patterns, materials, and case designs tailored to your needs. They can be used for a wide range of purposes, such as as souvenirs, promotional items, and other novelty goods. As the first manufacturer of playing cards in Japan in 1902, we deliver high-quality products."
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| Nintendo Japan website 2026 |
In today’s post, we will take a closer look at a fine example of a promotional deck produced by Nintendo in the 1960s for a well-known Japanese company and brand: Kanebo (カネボウ). At the time, Kanebo was an industrial conglomerate that had begun in spinning, later expanded into chemicals, and by the postwar period had diversified into businesses including textiles, cosmetics, and food.
