2K6: RIP to the flip phone, long live the Business Card

20 years ago, the internet had just discovered social media, flip phones were peak sophistication, and MySpace was still the biggest site in America.

It was also the year MOO started. We turned up with a stack of MiniCards and a fairly simple idea: print didn’t have to be boring just because the internet was suddenly very exciting.

We’ve come a long way since then. We’ve sold over 2.6 billion Business Cards, and branched out into Stationery and Branded Merch. 

As it’s our 20th birthday this year, we thought it was the perfect excuse to look back at the world we started in and what’s changed. 

Spoiler: some things aged brilliantly. Others aged like a MySpace Top 8.

1. Twitter is born

In July, a scrappy little site called Twttr went live, promising short, scrappy updates to the world in 140 characters or less. Nobody quite knew what to do with it yet. There were no hashtags or verified badges, or algorithms. Just people typing what into the void. 

2. Phones get a flip

The Motorola RAZR was the phone everyone wanted. Thin, shiny, and satisfyingly snappable. Texting meant pressing the number 7 four times to get an S. The iPhone was still a full year away, so nobody was doom-scrolling anything or constantly refreshing their emails.

3. The Devil wore Prada… and low-rise jeans

The Devil Wears Prada landed in cinemas and rewrote the rules of office dressing for a generation, one Chanel boots-in-the-snow scene at a time. Meanwhile, Disney Channel dropped High School Musical in January and turned “getcha head in the game” into a cultural event. Statement belts and low-rise jeans were all the rage.

4. The year of the Bad Day

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Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” spent five weeks at number one, becoming the unofficial anthem of every ordinary Tuesday. Justin Timberlake brought SexyBack, proving he could do more than just cry us a river. My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade, giving an entire generation of teenagers something to be dramatic about.

5. Tech got a glow-up

In September, Facebook finally opened its doors to anyone over 13, not just college students, and rolled out the News Feed.

In October, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion and a month later, both the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 launched, kicking off a console war that arguably never really ended.

6. MOO launches to make great print

Marketing in 2006 was still overwhelmingly offline. TV was king, a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $2.5 million, and direct mail still landed on doormats. 

Digital marketing existed, but banner ads and email newsletters were about as cutting-edge as it got. If you wanted to be remembered, you needed something people could hold onto.

That’s the world MOO turned up in. We started small, literally, with MiniCards, half the size of a standard card. Business Cards as we know them (with all the fancy paper stocks and Special Finishes) didn’t arrive until 2008. 

It took us a couple of years to think big, but the idea was there from day one: something real still works better than anything a feed can do.

We can help your brand stand the test of time

Platforms rise and fall. Apps come and go. But a well-made Business Card, handed over in person, never goes out of fashion. Explore our full range.