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.
Beneath the wrapper are two more layers. First, the card case is protected by a cardboard sleeve, which could also be used to keep it safe during storage.
Wrapped around that is a second sleeve bearing the Kanebo company logo—a bell with the letter K—the division name, and a short message:
Kanebo Cosmetics (カネボウ化粧品)
Bell Club Commemorative Gift (ベルの会記念品)
The company branding continues on the transparent plastic lid of the card case.
Inside the case are a shrink-wrapped deck of cards, a standard Nintendo playing-card instruction booklet, and a leaflet from Kanebo.
The front of the Kanebo leaflet states that this deck was part of the company’s 1963 gift collection.
It appears that the Bell Club was a loyalty program run by Kanebo, in which members could collect points by purchasing products and registering those purchases, then receive a gift each year based on their membership tier.
The leaflet explains:
"We are sincerely grateful for your continued patronage of Kanebo Cosmetics and would like to express our heartfelt thanks.
We appreciate your patience and are pleased to deliver the 1963 commemorative gift for the Bell Club. Please kindly accept it."
These playing cards were the most modest gift in the program, listed as tier “D.” Higher-tier gifts included cushions, a cosmetic powder puff case, and lengths of fabric that could be used to make clothing.
The backs of the cards are Kanebo-branded, while the fronts are standard Nintendo playing cards. The fact that the Nintendo name appears on these promotional cards, rather than on a fully Kanebo-branded deck, suggests that Kanebo valued the association with Nintendo and wanted its customers to see that this gift came from a quality manufacturer.
Inside the shrink-wrap is a small leaflet that reads:
"With just a little care, you can keep your Nap Cards in like-new condition for a long time. Please read the usage instructions on the reverse side."
The term “Nap” refers to Nintendo All Plastic, a brand name Nintendo introduced in the early1950s for its highest-quality fully plastic cards.
The instructions continue:
"Nap Cards are made of pure plastic. They are not paper cards nor simply paper coated with plastic, but are 100% all-plastic cards from the core."
The leaflet also offers practical advice for keeping the cards in good condition:
"Nap Cards – Instructions for Use:
Keep cards dry. After washing, dry thoroughly.
Keep them clean. Wash gently with cold water and good-quality soap. Do not scrub hard (to avoid abrasion).
Keep away from heat and hot water."
Nintendo clearly maintained a good relationship with its customer Kanebo, as a decade later it produced another, even more striking promotional gift for the company: a version of Nintendo’s Mach Rider racing toy, rebranded for Kanebo as Dash Rider.
We will take a closer look at this Dash Rider in a future post.
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