Amazon surprises Brillion family again

Oct. 12, 2022

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

Amazon employees Alex Ronaldson and Linda Vanlinn surprised the Burich family - Bennett, Sawyer and Oakley - with Amazon Halloween costumes on Oct. 12, 2022 in Brillion, Wis. Sawyer's love of Amazon helped spark a national campaign by the company. (David Nordby/BN)

BRILLION - Amazon did it again.

Last year, Amazon employees surprised Brillion’s Sawyer Burich with a Halloween costume to fulfill his dream of being an Amazon driver, much to his delight.

On Wednesday, they surprised him again, this time bringing an updated uniform for him, plus costumes for his 6-year-old brother, Bennett, and family dog, Oakley.

The story last year caught the attention of Amazon's communication workers. Sawyer’s love of Amazon inspired a national campaign by the company to find superfans around the country with the Amazon Driver Uniform Costume Giveaway Contest.

"So we especially love seeing customers across the country celebrate their Amazon delivery-driver heroes during Halloween with the help of their kids and dogs. This year, we wanted to help a few lucky Amazon driver superfans take their Halloween costumes to the next level—so we created limited-edition, official Amazon driver uniforms made just for dogs and kids," the company wrote in a statement.

While Sawyer had an official costume last year, company representatives said Wednesday they noticed other fans of Amazon making their own, even for their dogs.

To give away costumes this year, Amazon teamed up with social media stars. The social media-popular bulldog, Manny the Frenchie, and parenting experts and fathers of two, Terrell and Jarius, helped find three lucky dogs and three lucky kids who are Amazon superfans.

The magnitude of an 8-year-old boy from Brillion connecting with a company the size of Amazon was difficult for the Burich family to put into words.

“It’s hard to even scale something like that when one of the largest companies in the world uses our son as a catalyst to launch a competition like that,” Eric, Sawyer’s father, said.

Sawyer's love of Amazon, its trucks and drivers has become a family affair. Now he and Bennett, 6, let each other know when either one sees an Amazon truck approaching their home in Brillion.

A complete story on the Amazon-Burich family connection will be featured in next week's Brillion News.