MasterCard holiday gift campaign pairs with Amazon

MasterCard is pushing its long-running "Priceless" campaign into the holiday realm this year with a Web site that helps people set up shopping lists for their Facebook friends and choose gifts based on offerings from Amazon.com.

The "Priceless Gift Finder" — which launches Monday — is a promotion by the credit card company and the online retailing giant to drive sales to Amazon.com through the holiday season.

The site — http://www.priceless.com/giftfinder — helps users select gifts using information about the recipients such as age, relation or personality types like "pet lover."

As an incentive, the pair will eventually offer consumers who buy recommended gifts from Amazon.com using their MasterCard a $10 credit to be used in the Amazon MP3 store.

The credit card company will introduce the campaign with a TV commercial in prime-time Monday featuring Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and actress Alyson Hannigan.

In the 30-second commercial, the pair give gifts that they like and use — such as a football or shampoo gift basket — to befuddled recipients. They'll be appearing in three ads for the campaign, which runs through Christmas.

The retail industry — and credit card companies that depend on it — is bracing for another difficult holiday season as consumers continue to worry about their jobs and deal with tight credit.

The application has a solution for that, too: it allows shoppers to create and stick to a budget.

"A list is really a way for the American consumer to control their spending," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, which tracks consumer habits through surveys.

The target audience is women, who do the bulk of gift-buying.

MasterCard declined to say how much it is spending on the effort. It will make money as shoppers use its cards to pay for their selections.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.