Pick the Right Tool for Promotion
Here's a great example of a company picking just the right promotional tool: a leatherman tool for Google hardware operations. Now, for all I know, Google has robots in their data centers managing all their hardware and their hardware operations group never touches a wire or a screwdriver. Still, in a company renowned for tinkering and building software tools, and less renowned for their equally important - and absolutely massive - hardware infrastructure, this promotional multi-tool evokes the spirit of hardware operations beautifully. Also, while there are some high-quality tools from non-name brands, using a genuine Leatherman tool sends an important message about the importance of the hardware operations team to Google, as well as Google's commitment to quality in general. (via Search Engine Land)
Posted by mark at 7:25 AM. Permalink: Pick the Right Tool for Promotion
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Another Google Logo Lego Project
Here's a great version of the Google logo done in Legos, including a step-by-step account of the process. One thing is for sure, this guy really likes Legos. Check out the wall of Lego bins behind the logo. And if you can't get enough Lego, check out the Lego Indiana Jones website.
Posted by mark at 10:37 AM. Permalink: Another Google Logo Lego Project
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Apple WWDC 2008 Promos
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008 opens today. Developers from around the world who create software for Apple's platform will be gathered in San Francisco for the next few days. Not only is it a pretty big event in the tech world, but it's also the time when one of the world's biggest brands reaches out to the 5,000 people who, more than anyone else outside the company, are integral to Apple's success. Here's a shot of a promotional t-shirt and embroidered computer bag given out at the conference.
At an event like this for any major company, conference gifts are an opportunity to have a positive impact on key supporters. For Apple, a company lucky enough to have thousands of obsessed followers who scrutinize everything they do, it's also an opportunity to send subtle signals about the things they feel are most significant about the event. In this case, the t-shirt uses iPhone style icons to underscore the probable release of the newest version of their phone software (which will include 3rd party applications by the developers attending), and probably a new version of their phone.
Posted by mark at 9:37 AM. Permalink: Apple WWDC 2008 Promos
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8-bit Beck
How do you make a CD worth buying in an age of digital downloads? One way is to make elaborate packaging that folds out into a house with a miniature band in it. Another way is to do elaborate packaging in the style of a retro video game cartridge. I like both ideas. (via The Dieline)
Posted by mark at 5:37 PM. Permalink: 8-bit Beck
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Google Campfire Chair
So, Google does a thing called Campfire One where they invite developers over to Google, share ideas and make s'mores. The perfect promo for such an event? Probably the custom imprinted folding chair, which is exactly what they did.
Posted by mark at 8:21 PM. Permalink: Google Campfire Chair
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Campaign Typography
This is a clever little study in typography, taking Hillary Clinton's logo and making it the cover layout for a literary magazine and putting John McCain's logo on a box of cologne. Arguably, both fit in well enough to work, but I would also imagine someone could mock up lots of other believable products with these logos, too.
Posted by mark at 7:49 PM. Permalink: Campaign Typography
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Making Promos that Match
| I just wanted to highlight this photo of a promotional notebook and promotional paper clips done for Google, because they looks go great together. Google has a somewhat challenging logo to begin with. Although it's simple, it has five colors, which means to match items you need to find ones that can be printed in five colors (or full-color). Beyond that, it's important to find items that look good together and make sure and make sure your logo size is proportionate both to the items and to the other items. One hint: if you're doing multiple items of similar size, make all the logos the same size, even if it could be a little bigger on one of the items. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:09 AM. Permalink: Making Promos that Match
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Gym Promotes with Exercise Device
Here's a pretty unusual promotional product, created for a gym in China. It was sent to members, with the message "don't give up halfway." Using promotional fitness products is increasingly popular in the US, and not just amongst fitness clubs. Promotional pedometers, water bottles and all types of sports and fitness equipment are used by all types of companies to encourage healthy activity. Even classics, like the jump rope are coming back in style.
Posted by mark at 9:55 AM. Permalink: Gym Promotes with Exercise Device
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Apple Fans: Hairvertising and Crochetvertising
| I know we've discussed headvertising before, a couple times in fact. But that, like wristvertising, involved brand tattooing. Hairvertising just involves the hair, which turns out to be a fairly versatile promotional tool itself. |  |
 | Of course, some people prefer working with animal hair, spun into yarn. For those who tend to be more crafty, do-it-yourself types, particularly knitters and the like, handmade logo gear may be more your style. |
Posted by mark at 9:40 AM. Permalink: Apple Fans: Hairvertising and Crochetvertising
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Logo Know-how: Design for Promos
Below is a sample corporate identity design I found on flickr, probably done for inclusion in a designer's portfolio. What I really like about it is that the logo is presented on a variety of promotional items in addition to the typical letterhead, envelope and business card. My guess is - even though snail mail is probably declining as a part of business communications and promotional product use is increasing - many companies and agencies neglect to take this into account when designing a corporate identity. In our experience, it is not uncommon to find large, sophisticated companies that have detailed branding guidelines for print and web that don't have something similar for logo merchandise.
Because of some of the unique challenges of using various imprinting methods (e.g., pad printing, laser engraving, embroidery), on a wide variety of items of different colors, shapes and sizes, this can be a big oversight and lead to inconsistent branding. Knowing what logo you will use when you only have a small printing area (like on a pen), or can only print in one color or what thread colors most closely match the PMS values of the colors in your logo are all great things to know ahead of time. Actually designing with these in mind will help you get the best results wherever you decide to put your logo.
Posted by mark at 9:02 AM. Permalink: Logo Know-how: Design for Promos
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Rangers Rally Towel
The rally towel is an interesting promo. Apparently, it dates back to a Vancouver Canucks hockey game. After what he thought was an unfair call, Coach Roger Neilson tied a towel to a spare hockey stick and began waving it as a sarcastic surrender statement. Neilson was fined, but the towels were a hit and a local businessman printed up and several thousand with proceeds going to charity. It's been with us ever since. Here is a surprisingly mustard-free, Sabrett-sponsored New York Rangers rally towel. It makes a great keepsake after the game, you can keep it with your Nathan's stadium cup and your Hebrew National clappers.
Posted by mark at 9:04 AM. Permalink: Rangers Rally Towel
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Ten Cent Real Estate Promotion
| Here's a cool ten-cent direct mail promotion that our CEO received. A Prudential Homes realtor sent out ten one cent stamps when the postage rates changed, along with a letter reminding past clients that if they know anyone looking for a new home in the area, she's always happy to get referrals. This is a great promotion because it's inexpensive, yet thoughtful. Plus, since most people don't buy new homes too often, it focuses on capturing referral opportunities, which is an effective way to utilize your customer base in real estate. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:37 AM. Permalink: Ten Cent Real Estate Promotion
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Sausage Calendar
If there's one thing I really like, it's a pork-based promotional product. From the hamerang to the porknament, nothing says good taste in promos like pig. So it is with great pleasure that I bring you this delicious sausage calendar, a delightful yuletide promotion from German meat and sausage producer Koenecke. It differs from a normal promotional calendar in many ways. For starters, it's made out of sausage, and most calendars are not. Also, the sausage wrapper is marked with 24 lines so you can slice off a little bit each day in December until Christmas...if you have the patience. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 5:13 PM. Permalink: Sausage Calendar
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Fancy Schmancy Apple Calculator
| What kind of promos do you do when you're selling some of the best designed products in the world? Well, they'd better be pretty cool and at least somewhat stylish. It's also best if they match your current design aesthetic fairly closely, like these Apple lunch boxes. This Apple promotional calculator does a pretty good job. It's also delightfully thin, as you can see below. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:11 PM. Permalink: Fancy Schmancy Apple Calculator
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Branding Blocks
What better promo for an architecture firm than LEGO-style building blocks? (Well, chia card for landscape architects, but that's a different story.) Anyhow, the building block as architecture promo does a couple things. Obviously, it conjures up the idea of construction or building, which is relevant to any architect. Perhaps slightly less obviously it evokes the idea of creativity, which is probably something that most architects want to evoke. Lastly, it conveys a sense of fun and whimsy, which is great if that's what your firm is all about, but is probably the least universal of the three feelings.
Posted by mark at 4:21 PM. Permalink: Branding Blocks
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Iconic Envelope Makes for Catchy T-shirt
Promotional t-shirts: practically every business, school and organization in the world has done them, but how many are really cool or really clever? This shirt, created for a FedEx campaign, makes it look like the wearer is carrying a FedEx envelope around. It actually reminds me of the vintage Nike t-shirt that looked like you had a pair of Air Jordans slung over your shoulder. Anyhow, I like it.
Posted by mark at 3:35 PM. Permalink: Iconic Envelope Makes for Catchy T-shirt
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Soapvertising
Google has done tons of cool promos in the past, but this one is pretty unique. Soapvertising comes in many forms, such as putting lots and lots of stuff on your soap label, but this Russian promotion for Gmail was targeted at students and used actual soap to promote their advanced spam protection. Part of the concept was that the spam filtering "cleans" the email, but also, the Russian words for soap and email also sound the same.
Posted by mark at 12:22 PM. Permalink: Soapvertising
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Bear Market: Zagat Guide
| Customizing a Zagat guide with your logo is a great idea that is probably underrepresented outside our financial clients. This is a particularly great product if you're based in a city that has a guide and your are visited regularly by clients or business partners from other places. If that isn't true for your company, there are also some great national guides to restaurants, hotels, golf courses and more. And I just did a whole post without poking fun at Bear Stearns. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:56 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Zagat Guide
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Bear Market: Market Caps
If there's one promotional product that any business or organization can use, it's a promotional cap. Or a whole bunch of them in different colors and styles. One thing that I think is worth noticing, is that despite the range of colors, materials and styles, they all represent the brand consistently (with the exception of the YYY hat that promotes a specific fund).
Posted by mark at 10:58 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Market Caps
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Bear Market: Clock Man Says...
| Clock man says it's time to be bought for pennies on the dollar! |  |
Posted by mark at 9:43 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Clock Man Says...
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Bear Market: Novelty Football Helmet
| So, the hard hat didn't really do such a great job protecting the firm or its investors and I guess the promotional mini football helmet didn't either. I guess it's time to switch teams! |  |
Posted by mark at 9:39 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Novelty Football Helmet
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Bear Market: Ace's Anniversary
More Bear Stearns memorabilia, this time it's a special promotional kit to celebrate Ace Greenberg's 50th anniversary at the firm. The seller goes into considerably more detail:
Mr. Alan "Ace" Greenberg started as a clerk at Bear Stearns in 1949 and by 1978 was the CEO of Wall Streets Titan Bear Stearns. He was known as a master card player gamester and magician hence the playing cards and Yo-Yo, Ace was well known for his famous bow ties and non-conventional (yet success proving) ways around the office and the financial world.
In 1999, Bear Stearns celebrated Ace Greenberg's 50th anniversary at the Firm with items that were given to certain staff members of Bear Stearns New York City 2 of which we are offering here: 1-unopened (sealed in celophane)set of playing cards in original box with ACE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY MARCH 8, 1999 AND PHOTO OF HIS FAMOUS BOW TIE ON THE CARDS & 1-WOODEN YO-YO WITH ACE'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY EMBLAZENED IN BLACK ON IT. THANKS FOR LOOKING!!! AND VICTORIOUS BIDDING!!!
Posted by mark at 9:17 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Ace's Anniversary
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Bear Market: Managing Risk the Old Fashioned Way
Another promo that was great in theory, an attention getting imprinted hard had. Of course in retrospect, the message seems to be less making risk safer and more thank goodness we have these hard hats while everything we've done comes falling down around us.
Posted by mark at 8:51 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Managing Risk the Old Fashioned Way
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Bear Market: Subprime Lending Tool Kit
| It either didn't work, or it worked too well. This Bear Stearns promotional tool kit, though compact, was apparently all it took to create an enormous bubble in housing prices. Now if that doesn't show the power of promotional products, I'm not sure what does. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:22 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Subprime Lending Tool Kit
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Bear Market: Capitalism Rushes in to Fill a Void
Inevitably, and perhaps appropriately, capitalism has driven folks to capitalize on the Bear Stearns collapse. Most prominently, are those who are auctioning their Bear Stearns promotional items on eBay (perhaps recapturing some lost investment value?). Of course, some enterprising folk have come up with some clever faux promotional t-shirts to poke fun at the situation.
Posted by mark at 9:59 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Capitalism Rushes in to Fill a Void
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Bear Market: Silver Yo-yo Days
| If we are indeed headed towards a serious recession, it will be the little things we remember. The promotional yo-yos, particularly the ones that were silver plated. The little things will remind us of the good times when life was fun and prosperous. Perhaps we'll call them the silver yo-yo days. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:55 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Silver Yo-yo Days
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Bear Market: Risk Managed?
Ah, the promotional umbrella. It's actually a great product in terms of usefulness and visibility. More importantly perhaps, it's an excellent way to convey feelings of security, coverage and safety. Of course, it also has the potential to become an artifact of painful irony.
Posted by mark at 9:25 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Risk Managed?
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Bear Market: Bad News Bears
The fall of Bear Stearns has meant many things to many people. For the Federal Reserve, it's the first time ever bailing out an investment bank. For JP Morgan, it was a chance to buy the firm on the cheap. Employees lost jobs, investors lost money and markets lost more confidence. But, their losses are eBay's gain, as Bear Stearns promotional products began to flood into online auctions. From pens and briefcases to shirts and hats, all kinds of Bear Stearns promos have shown up online. But most of all, the bears! Promotional stuffed bears, from the banker bear to the aviator bear in many colors, sizes and styles. Here, we present The Bear Bears!
Posted by mark at 10:44 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Bad News Bears
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Aquent Beach Ball
Here's a cute promo done by Aquent, a custom beach ball to promote their pool of talent. Very clever guys! I actually used to work for them. I can also say that one thing they used to do and probably still do, is purchase promos centrally to ensure they meet brand guidelines. I think this was important as they were going from a niche staffing agency to an international company that's probably the largest of its type in the world.
Posted by mark at 6:40 AM. Permalink: Aquent Beach Ball
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Barack Obama Doll
He's had a pretty extensive campaign store for some time, featuring everything from baby tees to ringtones. Now, Barack Obama is available in plush doll form for a mere $16.95. It's kind of a cute doll, but the site that sells them seems to deal mostly in tasteless political and celebrity action figures. (via A Socialite's Life)
Posted by mark at 9:01 AM. Permalink: Barack Obama Doll
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Blogger Gloves from SXSW
| South by Southwest used to be a big music conference, but now it's so big (and what with the Internet and all) they also have an interactive conference there. These promotional gloves from Blogger, the blogging software owned by Google, were one of the giveaways there. What's so cool about these gloves? Well, they're fingerless gloves, so you can blog even when it's really cold. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:12 AM. Permalink: Blogger Gloves from SXSW
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I Love the Smell of Promotion in the Morning: Cat Poo Pillow
You know what? We can't all sell flowers and gumdrops and fine art prints. There are plenty of companies out there selling things that are less glamorous, less aesthetically pleasing and less not poo-related, but enrich our lives nonetheless. For example, there are companies that make special crystals that make cat poo not smell so bad. These companies need promotion, too. In promotion, I think it's best to embrace what you do, and Catsan did just that. With a good sense of humor to boot. According to Commerical Archive, Catsan Crystals weren't one of the featured products at an Australian pet care trade conference, so they used these custom pillowcases to get some attention for their odor-stopping product. And that's just classic promotion: finding a clever way to get your target audience to think about the key benefits of your product.
Posted by mark at 8:22 AM. Permalink: I Love the Smell of Promotion in the Morning: Cat Poo Pillow
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Big Day for Buttons: Democratic Primaries
Today - as Barack Obama hopes to deliver a knockout blow in the Democratic primaries and Hillary Clinton tries to spin them in a way that justifies soldiering on - is a great day to sell some campaign buttons. Both Democratic candidates raised record amounts of money in February, and have been spending record amounts on television advertising, particularly in Ohio and Texas. The campaigns have not released promotional button expenditure figures for the month, but one supplier of unofficial campaign merchandise claims to have sold over 2 million buttons so far this year.
Posted by mark at 4:23 PM. Permalink: Big Day for Buttons: Democratic Primaries
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Hot Vintage Product: Pepsi Thermometer
| There's just something cool about vintage promotional thermometers. Perhaps the vintage Tab thermometer was cooler than this Pepsi one, but it's close. Why don't companies do thermometer promos like this anymore? Or, if they do, they don't do them enough. Have weather websites killed the promotional thermometer? |  |
Posted by mark at 8:40 PM. Permalink: Hot Vintage Product: Pepsi Thermometer
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MacGyver Multi-tool
This is the awesomest promotional product ever! The ultimate multi-function tool, this product can do absolutely anything. It's lightweight and easy to carry, you can take it with you anwhere you go. It is truly the only tool you'll ever need. (MacGyver not included.)
Posted by mark at 4:27 PM. Permalink: MacGyver Multi-tool
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The Bigger the Better: Giant Thong Planter
I'm familiar with custom flip-flops, promotional plants and giant stuff. Here, all three come together in a burst of magical, tropical harmony.
Posted by mark at 8:37 AM. Permalink: The Bigger the Better: Giant Thong Planter
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The Bigger the Better: Giant Nescafe Mug
| So, this is bigger than your average promotional mug. A lot bigger. And more dangerous. Someone could spill hot coffee all over that building! |  |
Posted by mark at 6:34 AM. Permalink: The Bigger the Better: Giant Nescafe Mug
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Election Promos 2008: Contact Lensvertising
And the winner for most striking, horrifying and strangely compelling promotion of the 2008 race so far is...this. More terrifying than Marylin Manson, this Ron Paul supporter thought these custom contact lenses would be a good way to generate attention for her candidate. It's enough to keep me up at night, but hey, that's promotion!
Posted by mark at 6:20 AM. Permalink: Election Promos 2008: Contact Lensvertising
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Election Promos 2008: Hats On
In addition to promotional buttons, one of the most effective promotional products a political campaign can employ are styrofoam hats that look like the straw hats that barbershop quartet members wear. Many have been surprised at Huckabee's performance in the primaries. I say it's those hats.
Posted by mark at 8:15 AM. Permalink: Election Promos 2008: Hats On
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Election Promos 2008: Salute to Buttons
A quick salute to the quintessential campaign promo: the promotional button. All but required as a part of any campaign worth its salt, the button is so universal because it conveys a message in a very personal way, allowing wearers to identify themselves as supporters of their candidate.
Posted by mark at 7:04 AM. Permalink: Election Promos 2008: Salute to Buttons
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Election Promos 2008: Mitt's Mitt
It didn't win him the nomination, but out of all the campaign promos in the 2008 election, it definitely stands out. Of course, most candidates didn't have a first name that could be so gracefully rendered in foam while being as quintessentially as American as baseball. I predict these will be making a comeback in 2008.
Posted by mark at 8:57 AM. Permalink: Election Promos 2008: Mitt's Mitt
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Animating Climate Change
It's been shown time and time again that the best way to explain climate change is to show it happening. Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" worked because it came in movie-form rather than just an article or report. Of course, it's tricky to show something that is happening on a scale of decades or centuries. Instead, a product like this takes a shortcut to metaphorically show the change that we're expecting. This color-changing promotional mug created by the World Wildlife Federation shows the land masses of the world disappearing when filled with hot water, which is more or less what we're in for in real life. Previously we've featured other climate change awareness promos using games, stickers and even color-changing mugs.
Posted by mark at 9:01 AM. Permalink: Animating Climate Change
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Onion Swagology: Kung Fu Panda Punching Bag
From The Onion:
Item: Punching bag
Promoting: Dreamworks' upcoming CGI film Kung Fu Panda
Relevance to product promoted: Presumably high. A punching bag no doubt figures prominently in a training montage or two. Like Bee Movie, the Jack Black-as-incongruous-animal-martial-artist laugher Kung Fu Panda has accomplished the formidable feat of being ridiculously overexposed months before its actual release.
Item quality: ? Who the hell knows? It would be hard to imagine a more unwieldy or time-intensive piece of promotional crap. The 10-step inflation-instruction manual makes the process sound more time- and labor-intensive than planning D-Day. Don't even think about blowing this thing up the old-fashioned way: "Inflate by small hand pump or electric inflater," the instructions prissily demand. Fuck, when is Dreamworks finally going to send us a promotional hand pump or electric inflater? It'd be the perfect tie-in for their upcoming slate of CGI cartoons about the madcap adventures of a group of anthropomorphic hand pumps and electric inflaters.
Posted by mark at 3:00 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Kung Fu Panda Punching Bag
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Onion Swagology: Resident Evil Sand Ball
The Onion passes judgment:
Item: An odd plastic ball full of glittery sand; when one side is up, the sand falls through to the other side to reveal a Vegas landscape and the words "This fall all bets are off." Turn the ball over again, and the sand falls back to the Vegas side, revealing the black words "Resident Evil Extinction."
Promoting: Take a wild guess.
Relevance to product promoted: Vegas is in a desert, right? Deserts have sand, right? Okay, we get it. Also, they totally got the name of the movie in there.
Item quality: 3. It's a useless tchotchke, so film-specific that we can't pawn it off on Great-Aunt Myrtle and pretend it was a thoughtfully chosen gift. But it is reasonably well-made, and the way the sand falls through the holes to slowly reveal the title, shining up from the remaining glittery sand, is kind of eerie. Wouldn't work too well on an item promoting, say, Winnie The Pooh: Wonderful Word Adventure, but as zombie-film promo merch goes, this is almost classy.
Posted by mark at 3:40 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Resident Evil Sand Ball
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Wienermobile Sighting: NYC
Everyone's favorite processed meat shaped vehicle was recently seen cruising Manhattan. It's looking pretty spry for a 71 year-old.
Posted by mark at 9:04 AM. Permalink: Wienermobile Sighting: NYC
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Onion Swagology: The Talkin' Optimus Prime Blues
From my favorite swagologists:
Item: Talking Optimus Prime Action Figure
Promoting: Transformers
Relevance to product promoted: Huh, let's see, a Transformers movie and a giant, expensive toy of a robot that changes into some sort of automobile? Call us dense, but we really aren't seeing a meaningful connection between the two.
Item quality: 5. According to its box, the figure's "Advanced Automorph Technology Triggers Electronic Lights And Sounds." So, you know, it's got that going for it. Additionally, it's got all the strengths of the Transformers movie (a neato robot-truck dude, weird noises, shiny lights) with none of its weaknesses (incoherent editing, labored scatological humor, a bloated running time, etc. etc. unto infinity).
Posted by mark at 3:10 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: The Talkin' Optimus Prime Blues
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Onion Swagology: Electric Apricot Stress Ball Bus
I came for the satire, but stayed for the trenchant analysis:
Item: A soft, squishy foam bus with "National Lampoon Presents Electric Apricot" printed on the top.
Promoting: The sloppy jam-band mockumentary Electric Apricot, directed by Primus frontman Les Claypool
Relevance to product promoted: Acceptable. Electric Apricot follows the zany misadventures of a hard-touring jam band that presumably traverses the country in a soft, squishy foam bus. Or a non-soft, non-squishy real bus. In the crazy, mixed-up, upside-down world of late-period National Lampoon movies, who can even tell any more? Like the film it's promoting, this promo item is probably only amusing to people who are really high.
Item quality: 2. It's sufficiently soft and squishy, and thanks to its complete lack of moving parts, it has yet to fall apart, but it's also insanely cheap-looking; the promo merchants didn't even bother to print the film's title on the sides of the bus.
Posted by mark at 7:08 AM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Electric Apricot Stress Ball Bus
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Onion Swagology: Class of 3000 Lunchbox
From my favorite humorous news source:
Item: Lunchbox
Promoting: Class Of 3000
Relevance to product promoted: High. Nothing says "Andre Benjamin-engineered Cartoon Network show about a free-spirited elementary school" quite like a lunchbox bearing a goateed visage of Andre 3000 looking rakish and debonair.
Item quality: 5. This bright, colorful lunchbox comes with a canteen, a fake sandwich containing a DVD of the first episode of the second season, and even a note from mom reading "Your dad and I are both very proud of your 2nd season! Try to stay awake in class and don't trade your sandwich! Love, Mom." Awww!!!! It's almost oppressively adorable.
Posted by mark at 7:06 AM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Class of 3000 Lunchbox
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Fast Food Hair Care
| When I think of A&W, I think of root beer, burgers and barrettes. Actually, the barrettes part is kind of a new thing, after I saw this vintage ad from some kind of fast-food related magazine. Stylish, and perfect for keeping your hair out of the deep fryer. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:30 PM. Permalink: Fast Food Hair Care
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Bagvertising Unlimited: A Real Nail Biter
| Here's a terrific bag promoting Stop n' Grow, a product that discourages nail biting by making your nails bitter. Perhaps there is a perfect promotion for every product in the world, but Stop n' Grow definitely found theirs. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:44 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising Unlimited: A Real Nail Biter
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Onion Swagology: Heartbreak Kid Pillow
So, this series is really going to be just a cut and paste job because the Onion article is so great.
Item: A faux hand-stitched pillow adorned with a ghoulish recreation of Ben Stiller's simian features, and the title "World's Greatest Husband"
Promoting: The Farrelly brothers' little-loved remake of The Heartbreak Kid
Relevance to product promoted: High. It's apparently a recreation of the pillow Stiller's monstrous new wife makes him while bedridden during their disastrous honeymoon.
Item quality, on a scale from 1 (instantly disposable) to 5 (office-humor essential): 5. Words cannot do justice to this bizarre curio's soul-shuddering creepiness. Stiller's cold, dead eyes seem to follow you wherever you go, while his smudgy lips are permanently frozen together in stern, disapproving judgment. Like the Patch Adams clipboard and Novocaine beat-up teddy bear that inexplicably still occupy a place of pride at the A.V. Club office, this creepily detailed pillow妖ig the hearts and flowers and fussy, quaint lettering様ooks primed to outlive the film it so indelibly promotes.
Posted by mark at 8:09 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Heartbreak Kid Pillow
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Direct Impact: Wilson Promotes New Driver with Balls
Wilson promoted its new long distance driver with some custom promotional golf balls. To make a point about just how far you can hit a ball with this new driver, the balls are imprinted with a form to add your contact message so when someone finds the balls they can return them to you.
Posted by mark at 7:11 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Wilson Promotes New Driver with Balls
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Lexus Uses Gifts as a Part of Excellent Customer Service
I just received a marketing letter with a couple great examples of how Lexus created brand loyalty by offering superior customer service, and actually delivering on their stated goal of "treating each customer as we would a guest in our home." In one example, a promotional gift added to the overall experience:
"Shortly after launching the inaugural LS 400 sedan nearly 20 years ago, Lexus discovered that about 3,000 cars had minor technical problems. The company responded by sending small teams of executives to visit each customer at home. They apologized in person and offered a gift while a Lexus technician resolved the mechanical glitches right there in the customer's driveway."
Posted by mark at 10:16 AM. Permalink: Lexus Uses Gifts as a Part of Excellent Customer Service
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Duracell Screwdriver Promo with Purchase
| Here's a perfect promo with purchase that came in a pack of Duracell batteries I picked up at Toys R Us. Since battery-powered toys generally have screw-shut battery compartments for safety, this little battery-shaped promotional screwdriver comes in mighty handy. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:55 PM. Permalink: Duracell Screwdriver Promo with Purchase
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Book Stairs Promote Books in a Big Way
| Here's a clever way to promote reading while sprucing up an otherwise mundane staircase. While this is a promotion for books, promotional books are also an option, as are promotional coloring books. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:20 PM. Permalink: Book Stairs Promote Books in a Big Way
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Did Promos Help Make the Difference for Obama in Iowa?
Senator Barack Obama won the Iowa Democratic primary with 38% of the vote, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton was seen as the front-runner for most of 2007. Could better, more innovative promos have something to do with it? It would be hard to prove, but Obama's online store does contain a wide variety of promos, including unusual new items like ringtones. He's also got some great taglines, like "Fired up, ready to go!"
Posted by mark at 9:13 AM. Permalink: Did Promos Help Make the Difference for Obama in Iowa?
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The Perfect Match?
Here's an example of great execution of a classic product. Promotional matches aren't new. In fact, as we enter the era of widespread bans on indoor smoking, they are a bit anachronistic. That doesn't mean that they aren't useful, or that they aren't an effective promotional tool. Especially when they look awesome like these!
Posted by mark at 7:06 AM. Permalink: The Perfect Match?
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More Edible Promos
If I'm going to be eating my promotional products, I typically prefer either ham, ham, donuts or chocolate. If all else fails, I guess carrots are okay, though. In this promotion, branded carrots encourage supermarket shoppers to pay a visit to the optometrist.
Posted by mark at 7:11 AM. Permalink: More Edible Promos
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Promotional Sock Monkey
| It is hard not to love any type of promotional monkey, but the sock monkey is always a special favorite. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:19 PM. Permalink: Promotional Sock Monkey
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Best of 2007: Best Living Direct Mail
Although it is essentially Sea Monkeys, this is easily the coolest direct mail piece I've seen in ages. It was done to promote the National Geographic Kids television channel and was sent to media buyers. The super scientific looking kit included everything you need to grow triops, a prehistoric, horseshoe crab-looking crustacean. They even included a CD that featured information and an interactive tool to track the triops' growth. I want one.
Posted by mark at 11:54 AM. Permalink: Best of 2007: Best Living Direct Mail
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Best of 2007: Best Climate-change Promo
2007 was definitely a big year for climate change promos. This year, people around the world raised awareness of climate change using promotional mugs, clever stickers, water, and promotional balloons. My favorite, though, is this game of Memory featuring a variety of natural locales presented both pre-and post climate change. It makes a powerful statement about the damage we've done and the damage to come, while also reminding us to think of the children.
Posted by mark at 11:40 AM. Permalink: Best of 2007: Best Climate-change Promo
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Best of 2007: Awesomest Calendar
We've seen some pretty cool calendars this year, but this custom calendar produced for DHL is the awesomest. To emphasize the world-wide reach of DHL, each time a month was turned, the calendar transformed into a new national flag. This was accomplished by dividing the calendar into three independently-flippable vertical sections, each containing one month, allowing for a wide assortment of flagalicious combinations.
Posted by mark at 11:28 AM. Permalink: Best of 2007: Awesomest Calendar
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So Scary You'll Be Sweating?
| How scary is the new 3D Beowulf movie? Apparently so scary you'll need to wipe the sweat from your brow, hence these Beowulf promotional sweatbands. Speaking of which, somehow, through the strange machinations of style and popular culture, these have been a really popular item this year. Will it be leg warmers in 2008? |  |
Posted by mark at 1:21 PM. Permalink: So Scary You'll Be Sweating?
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Vitamin Water In-store Promotion
| Somehow I neglected to feature this promotion from a couple months ago when the folks from Vitamin Water camped out at the deli around the corner from our office to educate and promote. In addition to free samples of their electrolyte-laden product, they also had some cool promo products to give away including a compact mirror, promotional lip balm and some custom promotional stickers. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:38 PM. Permalink: Vitamin Water In-store Promotion
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More Cereal Promotion
If Corn Flakes promotes using homey, vintage-style promos, then what would you use to promote a sweet, unnaturally processed cereal like Sugar Crisp? I guess a glow in the dark promotional pen is unnatural enough!
Posted by mark at 10:55 AM. Permalink: More Cereal Promotion
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Helvetica's 50th
| It sure went by fast. 2007 was the 50th anniversary of the font face Helvetica. If they gave an award for font face of the century, Helvetica would definitely win hands down. What other font has it's own promotional mugs? |  |
Posted by mark at 6:59 PM. Permalink: Helvetica's 50th
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Stress Guy Pyramid Challenges Dart Man Army
| The army of dartmen was impressive, but now they have a challenger in the form of spunky stress guy pyramid. In this battle of promotional homunculi, who will reign supreme? |  |
Posted by mark at 5:12 PM. Permalink: Stress Guy Pyramid Challenges Dart Man Army
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Triple Popcorn Tin Popularity Test
| Our crack team of ePromos scientists have determined the relative popularity of the three flavors in a standard 3-flavor popcorn tin. As you can see, the most popular is caramel, followed by cheese, with buttered popcorn placing a distant third. Next year we will have to test the new 4-way popcorn tins. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:14 PM. Permalink: Triple Popcorn Tin Popularity Test
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New Order Scarf
Since I work at a promotional products company, I can probably get just about any promo I would want. Except this New Order scarf, which I like almost as much as the Kraftwerk calculator. I definitely love it when a band does promotional merchandise that is a little bit more creative than the standard shirts and hats.
Posted by mark at 8:54 AM. Permalink: New Order Scarf
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GW for President?
| I am a little late on the draw, but apparently last Friday was the anniversary of George Washington's death. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who would prefer the O.G. (Original George) over some of the candidates we have right now. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:38 AM. Permalink: GW for President?
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Predictions 2008: Promoting During a Recession?
While we can't yet agree about whether we're in, heading into, or not facing a recession, there is consensus that the US economy is slowing down as we head into 2008. (Due to the delay in compiling data, recent recessions haven't been officially acknowledged until they were over or almost over.) The Advertising Lab recently did a nice post about advertising during a recession, including the useful graph below that charts sales growth for companies that did or did not cut advertising during tough times. Not surprisingly, companies that kept advertising (and presumably tightened their belts in other areas) did much better in the long term. In 2008, I think the same will be true of companies and their promo budgets. Companies that skimp on their trade show promos and direct mails this year may save a little cash now, but they'll be paying a steep price in the future as their more savvy competitors steal market share and brand awareness.
Posted by mark at 10:17 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Promoting During a Recession?
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Choco Promos: Chocolate Google
Nothing says class like fine custom chocolates in an imprinted box made out of delicious chocolate. Google, you've really outdone yourself this time. (via Search Engine Land)
Posted by mark at 6:56 AM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Chocolate Google
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Cereal Promos Generate Brand Loyalty Early
| Mmm, cereal. It's a delicious part of a nutritious breakfast. It's also a classic example of a product that depends highly on brand loyalty developed early on. That's why you want kids reading the back of your box, and that's why you want to create loads of cool promos featuring your brand that will be seen around the table. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:38 PM. Permalink: Cereal Promos Generate Brand Loyalty Early
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Predictions 2008: More 4-Color
| Predicting the further expansion of full color promotional products is almost an annual tradition for me, but it's a prediciton that comes true every year. This year I've visited factories experimenting with an implementing advanced 4-color process digital printing on bags, plastics, mugs, clothing and a host of other products, and the trend is going to continue. Examples include the high-definition napkins shown here and some amazing full-color plastic memorabilia cups that just came on the market this year. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:40 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: More 4-Color
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Choco Promos: Chocolate Keyboard
Pretty much any thing is better in chocolate form. This goes for promotional chocolates and computer keyboards. Therefore, it must also be true for promotional computer keyboards. Qwertylicious!
Posted by mark at 6:50 AM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Chocolate Keyboard
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Predictions 2008: Cause of the Year?
Raising awareness about diseases - to educate those at risk and raise funds to fight them - is one of the most rewarding parts of working in the promotional products industry. Over the past few years we've seen a number of big trends in the industry, from a focus on breast cancer awareness products to the silicone bracelets popularized by Lance Armstrong. Currently (PRODUCT) RED, dedicated to providing anti-retroviral drugs to AIDS sufferers in the developing world, is probably the highest-visibility awareness program. Along the way we've seen plenty of hits, a few misses (the Christopher Reeve foundation dog tags didn't really take off).
We've also able to see trends as measured in sales. Predictions for 2008? Breast cancer awareness products have already peaked. In fact, they probably peaked in 2006. Likewise for silicone bracelets. This year awareness promotion will depend on a new breakout product as well as a new cause that really captures a broad audience.
Posted by mark at 6:21 PM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Cause of the Year?
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Lonely Airline Bag
| This lonely airline bag was literally seen on the street near my house. Although it eventually was tossed out by its owner, it seems to have lasted decades. To me that's some serious longevity for a promotion. In fact, any time a promo lasts long enough to become a vintage promo, I think the advertiser got their money's worth. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:31 AM. Permalink: Lonely Airline Bag
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Predictions 2008: Campaigns Boost USA/Union Made Products
Sure, it's kind of a no-brainer, but this election year will mean big sales for made in the USA products as well as union made promos. Of course, this is somewhat true every election year, but with a weakened economy, China perceived as a growing threat, and our debacles in the middle east, this election is bound to focus inward on domestic issues like jobs, especially manufacturing jobs that we've lost. In this respect, promotional products are really a bright spot because the need for customization and short turn-around times has actually kept a lot of imprinting and promotional manufacturing jobs in the US to satisfy the needs of last-minute marketers.
Posted by mark at 11:15 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Campaigns Boost USA/Union Made Products
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A Simple Promo with the Power to Save Lives
| Promotional refrigerator magnets are a simple, inexpensive giveaway that is associated with pizza delivery more than heart surgery, but that may change. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal showcased a little magnet that made a big difference in the lives of heart attack victims. In this case, the magnet simply had a checklist of heart failure symptoms and a place to put the name and phone number of the patient's doctor. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:18 PM. Permalink: A Simple Promo with the Power to Save Lives
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Predictions 2008: Focus on Health
Whether you call them love handles or an obesity epidemic, we're in bad shape and getting worse. Combine our general poor health with an aging population of baby boomers and a lot of election year talk about healthcare plans and we're in for a lot of fitness and health oriented promotion in 2008.
Product-wise, old standbys like promotional pedometers and logo sports bottles will be popular, but also be on the lookout for new items like computerized jump ropes that count your jumps and calories burned and arm bands to hold your iPod while you exercise.
Posted by mark at 7:01 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Focus on Health
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Predictions 2008: Web 2.0 Goes Offline
I'm not saying that web 2.0 sites are going dark in 2008, but that people are going to apply these principles offline as well as online. After all, social networking, word of mouth, customer reviews and communities all existed before the web, and the offline world still exists even if it gets ignored from time to time. Without resorting to meaningless names like web 3.0, I will say that lots of the innovation that has changed the way we interact with the web is headed offline in one way or another. Smart phones are blurring the line between web and other modes of communication, technology-enabled brick and mortar stores are going to blur the line between shopping online and off, and marketers will realize that community-building around their brands is as valuable offline as it is online.
What does this have to do with promotional products? There's gonna be lots of stuff to give away in the real world: in stores, at events and via direct mail, and smart marketers are going to leverage their online efforts offline and vice versa.
Posted by mark at 11:45 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Web 2.0 Goes Offline
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Morph Ball Animation
You kind of have to see the Morph Ball in person to appreciate its coolness. However, this animation does help convey its near-magical properties. Basically, when thrown in the air, it turns itself inside out, thus reversing its color from black to white with each toss. While I am not a scientist, I have surmised that this has something to do with aerodynamics, and perhaps even space age engineering. The perfect product if you're looking to both promote and blow minds!
Posted by mark at 2:41 PM. Permalink: Morph Ball Animation
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Predictions 2008: Look to the Music Industry
| Necessity is the mother of invention, and in 2008 no one needs invention as much as the music industry. Luckily, there are lots of creative people in the music industry and I think they're going to figure out some innovative ways to breath life into their failing business model. I'm not sure what form the innovation will take, but something like this innovative cd packaging (everything was made as real 3D models then photographed) is headed the right way. (Other signs of life: the recording artist as action figure, independent artists taking merch up a notch and releasing albums on USB drive.) |  |
Posted by mark at 7:32 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Look to the Music Industry
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Emergency Donut
| The Anti-ticket Donut isn't actually a promotional product yet, but it does make a good gag. Because, as we all know, donuts make great promos! |  |
Posted by mark at 5:45 PM. Permalink: Emergency Donut
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Predictions 2008: Price Pressure
There will be three big factors influencing pricing in 2008 and all of them are likely to increase prices. The increase in the cost of oil is going to drive manufacturing and transportation costs up and if those increases are sustained as they have been in 2007, prices will have to follow. The falling value of the US dollar will also have an impact on prices, particularly if China loosens the yuan's peg against the dollar. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, starting in January of 2008 China has promised to eliminate export subsidies on many of their manufactured good which currently reduce prices by 8-14% on many products.
The full effect of these factors won't be seen in pricing here until 2009, but many prices are headed up starting in the new year, and any mid-year product launches will definitely reflect these increased costs.
Posted by mark at 7:18 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Price Pressure
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Flash from the Past: Part Seven - Hazzard Lights
| And now we wrap up our festival of lights with this charming, pistol-style Dukes of Hazzard promotional flashlight. Now, I don't understand what a pistol-style "Signal Flash" is actually used for, but is sure looks cool. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:40 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Seven - Hazzard Lights
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Hot (Sauce) Hand Dryer
| Here's a clever promo that uses a custom sticker to turn a hand dryer into a hot promotion for hot sauce. I've actually seen lots of clever ads using mirrors, paper towel dispensers and other bathroom-related stuff. Heck, even a whole promotional bathroom! |  |
Posted by mark at 4:42 PM. Permalink: Hot (Sauce) Hand Dryer
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Flash from the Past: Part Six - Sweet Flashlight!
| Here's a sweet custom flashlight from Lifesavers. Taking advantage of the distinctive shape of your product and creating a custom promotional item (or office building or car) in that shape can be a great way of leveraging your brand. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:31 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Six - Sweet Flashlight!
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More ad:tech Schwag
Somehow lost in the shuffle was this photo of assorted promos from ad:tech 2007 in New York. Even at a conference dedicated to technology in advertising, virtually everyone exhibiting knew better than to skip their trade show promos! (photo from Tamar)
Posted by mark at 4:51 PM. Permalink: More ad:tech Schwag
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Predictions 2008: Saftey Concerns
 | Rising concerns over product safety were one of the top stories of 2007, and unfortunately, they're not going away in 2008. With the election and the Olympics in 2008, China will be big news as a trading partner, a rival on the world stage, and a source of potentially unsafe products. The promotional products industry won't be in the spotlight as much as consumer goods companies, but it will be a concern to buyers. |
Posted by mark at 3:24 PM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: Saftey Concerns
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Flash from the Past: Part Five - Flashlight Convention
Did you know there are flashlight collector conventions? There are. Here's coverage of the 2006 Flashlight Collectors Convention in Cleveland, and the 2007 Flashlight Collectors Convention in Tulsa.
Posted by mark at 11:11 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Five - Flashlight Convention
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Predictions 2008: The Year of Eco-friendly?
With 2007 coming to a close, we're going to take a look at promo trends for 2008 over the course of several posts. What better place to start than the rise of eco-friendly promos?
Eco-friendly in 2008: Targeting the Mainstream, Hits and Misses
In 2007 there was a lot of industry buzz around eco-friendly promo products, and there were finally enough products in the industry for us to create a section of our site for them. In 2008, product selection looks to be several times as large, with almost every major producer introducing some eco-friendly items. While we're happy to create, promote and talk-up eco-friendly products, the real question is: will they sell?
My prediction: yes, a little. The main obstacle is price, and in 2008 many marketers will want eco-friendly products for their promotions, but only a fraction will have the budget to pay a premium for them. The winners will be products that are highly-visible eco-friendly products (think earth tones and kraft paper) which are reasonably priced. Organic cottons and recycled fabrics that make products 2-3 times as expensive as their non-eco counterparts are going to see only modest sales, at least in 2008.
Two surprise winners will be eco-friendly items that aren't eco-friendly: inexpensive non-woven totes and polycarb water bottles will be promoted as alternatives to disposable bags and bottled water. Since they're reusable alternatives to disposable products, they do help the environment without being organic/recycled/biodegradable themselves.
Posted by mark at 10:49 AM. Permalink: Predictions 2008: The Year of Eco-friendly?
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Cook the Books with Unique Annual Report
| This isn't a promotional product, but it is nice to see that corporate communications can be influenced by guerrilla marketing. In this case, the annual report for food company Podravka was done with special ink that required baking in order for the text to show up. Let's hope it didn't come out too dry! |  |
Posted by mark at 10:09 AM. Permalink: Cook the Books with Unique Annual Report
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Flash from the Past: Part Four - Addams Flashlights
Not a lot to say here besides: Yay! Addams Family flashlights! Plus, although these particular flashlights were a tie-in to the 1960s television show: rest in peace, Raul Julia!
Posted by mark at 7:05 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Four - Addams Flashlights
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Voodoo Politics
| In a recent column drawing parallels between the Clinton-Giuliani senate race in 2000 and their current face off as front-runners for the presidency in 2008, they featured this image of vintage promotional voodoo dolls of the two candidates. While creating a custom doll or promotional action figure for your brand has worked for some, perhaps creating a custom voodoo doll for your competitors is an underrated alternative. |  |
Posted by mark at 2:59 PM. Permalink: Voodoo Politics
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Flash from the Past: Part Three - Light Beer
Here's a selection of promotional flashlights designed to look like beer and soda bottles. It seems that somehow no one had thought of adding a bottle opener to any of these. I guess they could come in handy when you're looking for that bottle opener in the dark.
Posted by mark at 10:57 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Three - Light Beer
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Flash from the Past: Part Two - Remembering the Alamo
| Here's an actual point-of-purchase display for Davy Crockett flashlights. These are actually Flippo flashlights, which were apparently very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. There were probably thousands of different characters/themes put on Flippo flashlights, but since I'm actually related to Davy Crockett that's what I'm featuring! |  |
Posted by mark at 7:36 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part Two - Remembering the Alamo
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Flash from the Past: Part One - Cartoon Lights
The whole Tabtastic series was kind of fun, and I have discovered tons of awesome promotional flashlight images from the days of yore, so welcome to a brand new retro promos series: Flash from the Past! Today we have a few of our favorite cartoon characters lighting the way, and there's lots more to come!
Posted by mark at 6:49 AM. Permalink: Flash from the Past: Part One - Cartoon Lights
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Side View Mirror Sticker Highlights Plight of Abandoned Pets
These stickers for rear view mirrors really drive home the plight of abandoned pets. Apparently this is a popular place to promote a cause: we've already seen an example that raises awareness about climate change.
Posted by mark at 1:37 PM. Permalink: Side View Mirror Sticker Highlights Plight of Abandoned Pets
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Tabtastic: Part Eleven - Tab Phone
| I really have no words for this. It is not only the most Tabtastic promo in our series, it is also just really amazing. Way cooler than the iPhone. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:42 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Eleven - Tab Phone
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Tabtastic: Part Ten - Tab Thermometer
| How cool is this Tab thermometer? Looks like about 52 degrees. It just goes to show that while Tab is best enjoyed ice-cold, Tab thermometers can be enjoyed at any temperature! Extra points for being photographed on a purple carpet! |  |
Posted by mark at 9:39 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Ten - Tab Thermometer
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Ron Paul Blimp?
Most promotional balloons are, you know, regular size. Sure, from time-to-time someone decides to go all out for their brand, but I haven't seen it in politics before. The folks at ronpaulblimp.com are hoping to raise money for a presidential campaign blimp, which would surely be a first!
Posted by mark at 2:29 PM. Permalink: Ron Paul Blimp?
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Hot Out of the Oven: Domino's Delivery Carriers
Here's a clever promotion that needs no explanation. The message was so obvious pizza oven pizza carriers didn't even feature a tagline. Of course, they're not afraid to do fancier, or more complicated promotions from time to time, like this totally insane couch. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 6:54 AM. Permalink: Hot Out of the Oven: Domino's Delivery Carriers
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Tabtastic: Part Eight - Tab Sign
| Okay, not exactly a promotional product, but it is an integral part of our Tabtastic Tab series. And here are some fun facts about Tab from Tab Soda Web: Introduced in 1963, Tab was the first major diet cola. Here's how it was named:
"Naming this new drink was also a problem. Market research said the name should be something short and easily remembered (three to six letters). They configured an IBM 1401 computer to print all four letter word combinations that had a vowel. This generated over 250,000 words; they also added names suggested by employees. Coca-Cola narrowed the list to 600 possibilities and checked each of these against existing trademarks. By the time of the final selection, there were less than two dozen choices left. TAB was the final choice." |  |
Posted by mark at 5:32 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Eight - Tab Sign
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Tabtastic: Part Seven - Tab Clock
| Now THIS is how a promotional wall clock is done. Of course it kinda only really works when you put the tab brand on it, unless you are imprinting Burmese Elvis. It's sugar free! and it's beautiful! I know many people who wish clock design were frozen forever at this moment. |  |
Posted by mark at 2:27 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Seven - Tab Clock
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Zipcar Hoodies Raise Awareness
| Zipcar is a handy service that allows carless folks like myself to rent cars by the hour whenever we need to go to Ikea. Much like Netflix, Zipcar is the kind of company that relies heavily on referrals from early adopters to build buzz. Luckily, because they can track usage patterns, they can easily find their brand evangelists and send them promotional sweatshirts! |  |
Posted by mark at 11:35 AM. Permalink: Zipcar Hoodies Raise Awareness
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Tabtastic: Part Six - Tab Patch
| Tab patch, along with Tab decal, is the perfect way to brand yourself as a Tab fan. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:26 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Six - Tab Patch
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Best Use of Promotional Chopsticks...
this year's award for best use of promotional chopsticks goes to Planet Drum. To paraphrase the old adage, when you've got a pair of drumsticks in your hands, everything looks like a drum.
Posted by mark at 6:43 AM. Permalink: Best Use of Promotional Chopsticks...
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Tabtastic: Part Five - Tab Keychain
| This one is great because it is not only Tabtastic, but it's also the ultimate old school promotional plastic keychain. This is the promotional keychain of my childhood, it was probably created the day after they invented plastic. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:19 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Five - Tab Keychain
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More Air Freshener Schwag
If you can identify what type of car a bunch of engine-looking type pieces are from, you can win some cool promos from Little Tree, a producer of those little tree shaped car air ffresheners. Perhaps the coolest are the greeting cards in the shape of those little tree shaped air fresheners. Their strategy of sending promos to blogs seems to be generating some welcome online attention!
Posted by mark at 1:45 PM. Permalink: More Air Freshener Schwag
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Tabtastic: Part Four - Tab Decals
| First, I thought I'd mention that if you aren't totally pumped about our Tabtastic features, just wait. We've got some awesome stuff coming up. Here is an assortment of promotional decals for the true Tab fan to share their Tablove with the world. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:14 PM. Permalink: Tabtastic: Part Four - Tab Decals
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Cool Promos for Toy Car Fans
Ninco, a manufacturer of toy cars, has added some great promotional items to their repetoire, and even got featured on the blog Slot Car News, which I guess features news about this kind of thing. They seem to have made some good picks as far as merchandise: a nice promotional cap so fans can brand themselves and a cool carrying case for their product!
Posted by mark at 10:58 AM. Permalink: Cool Promos for Toy Car Fans
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New Google Promo Lip Balm
google wants to make all the world's information searchable, while not being evil. They also seem to care deeply about making sure we are well hydrated, our lips remain unchapped, and keeping key communities happy. They also don't mind having a little fun. (via Search Engine Land)
Posted by mark at 10:53 AM. Permalink: New Google Promo Lip Balm
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A Little Eco: ABC Family Promotes 25 Days of Christmas with Reusable Shopping Bags
| ABC Family is promoting their "25 Days of Christmas" programming by handing out 60,000 reusable shopping bags in highly-trafficked shopping areas. Street teams are decked out in branded red promotional fleece, hats and scarves. According to senior marketing vice president John Rood, 展e want to try to get the attention not only of viewers, but our cable and satellite and affiliates partners and Web visitors." (via Promo Magazine) |  |
Posted by mark at 12:41 PM. Permalink: A Little Eco: ABC Family Promotes 25 Days of Christmas with Reusable Shopping Bags
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ad:tech New York 2007: AditAll Does it with a Custom Doll
| Did-it did it with a stuffed frog, and Trexy used Bambi, now AditAll has come out with cute, cuddly, custom stuffed animals of their logo. Guaranteed to be a memorable giveaway, and perfect if you've already got a cute logo! |  |
Posted by mark at 7:04 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: AditAll Does it with a Custom Doll
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ad:tech New York 2007: Hot Toy Makes a Hot Giveaway
| CPA Empire uses incentives, like these awesome radio controlled helicopters to generate leads for their clients. What better way to convey the power of their service than by using them as a giveaway for trade show promotion? Their booth was actually in the relatively lower traffic back hallway, but it was packed all day long. Nothing like some fun promos to get attention at a show! |  |
Posted by mark at 2:58 PM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Hot Toy Makes a Hot Giveaway
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ad:tech New York 2007: Not Just Hats...Really Great Hats!
Kudos to Hydra Media for doing not just custom caps, but really awesome custom caps. Anyone can give away a promotional baseball cap, but the level of quality and design in these really stands out. Sorry my photo wasn't better!
Posted by mark at 9:53 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Not Just Hats...Really Great Hats!
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ad:tech New York 2007: Getting Creative with Candy
Here's another example of a creative candy trade show promotion as seen at ad:tech New York. In this case, email.com has dispensers so attendees can make their own custom candy mix. Much like Kontera's wheel of promos, this encourages interactivity, which at a trade show is a good thing. It's also a perfect tie-in if you have the capability of personalizing your product offering for your customers. For more candy-related stuff, check out Mindset Media's M&Ms and custom candy in your company colors.
Posted by mark at 9:06 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Getting Creative with Candy
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ad:tech New York 2007: Mindset Media M&Ms
M&Ms make a perfect promo for Mindset Media, particularly when they're all orange to match Mindset's corporate colors. The perfect example of a promotion that melts in your mouth and matches their brand. Even if your company doesn't have a candy namesake, you can match your brand with candy from our Corporate Colors Candy Collection. Choose from a variety of colors, candies and containers to create the perfect edible promotion that matches the colors of your logo.
Posted by mark at 11:40 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Mindset Media M&Ms
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The Blue State Blues
| In these divisive times, you'd think that comfort food would be one thing that could reach out across the aisle and unite rather than divide. But no, even mac and cheese feels a need to play partisan politics. Won't somebody please think of the children? Apparently, this custom food was done specifically for the 2004 Democratic National Convention. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:59 AM. Permalink: The Blue State Blues
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ad:tech New York 2007: Findology Finds the Perfect Item
| Here's another example of finding the perfect promotional match. In this case, Findology is giving out a promotional massager that happens to look exactly like their logo. Partly they're lucky that there is something that looks exactly like their logo, but they're definitely smart to use it, and for taking the extra step to customize the color to really match their logo. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:23 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Findology Finds the Perfect Item
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ad:tech New York 2007: Ad Pepper Spices Things Up
| If your company is ad pepper media what could be a better trade show giveaway than custom promotional hot sauce? Not much, really. After all, it gets people's attention, reinforces your brand identity, and it's great on eggs. |  |
Posted by mark at 2:18 PM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Ad Pepper Spices Things Up
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Elvis Fan? Now's Your Chance!
Bill Beeny, curator of the Elvis Is Alive Museum is closing up shop and selling his collection of Elvis memorabilia on eBay. He still believes Elvis is alive, but after 17 years he's ready to turn his museum into a food bank. Amongst the items available in the auction is an open coffin housing an Elvis dummy. According to Mr. Beeny, It doesnt look like Elvis, but neither did the guy in the casket. Read more at the New York Times.
Posted by mark at 12:07 PM. Permalink: Elvis Fan? Now's Your Chance!
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ad:tech New York 2007: Wheel...of...Promos!
Here's another great example of using promotional products not just to drive booth traffic, but to really get some interaction with trade show attendees. The folks at Kontera have a selection of products, from a promotional tote bag to a folding flyer and more. Attendees spin the wheel to find out what promo they get, and in the meantime they get to learn a little more about Kontera.
Posted by mark at 6:56 AM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: Wheel...of...Promos!
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ad:tech New York 2007: The Simplest Promo
| The round stress ball: it may be the simplest promotional product in the world. It's just a squishy sphere. To be fair, there are a few different versions of the round stress ball, but it's still pretty darn simple. It's also totally appropriate for some brands, like f5 and Datran Media, who both have logos that match up quite nicely with their round stress ball promos. Never argue with something simple that works. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:17 PM. Permalink: ad:tech New York 2007: The Simplest Promo
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Lowes Coasters Are a Home Improvement
Here's a perfect example of a well-done promo. These promotional coasters were done for Lowe's, a national home improvement chain. They're practical and fun, and more importantly they reinforce the Lowe's brand in several ways. The natural wood grain, evoking lumber and carpentry is an obvious reminder of what Lowe's stands for, and the fact that they fit together and can be used to build things also promotes this brand identity. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 7:13 AM. Permalink: Lowes Coasters Are a Home Improvement
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Showbiz Pizza Billy Bob Keychain
| Today's retro promo is a custom promotional keychain from Showbiz Pizza featuring Billy Bob, who I guess was their mascot. One thing that really stands out to me is - assuming Showbiz is something like Chuck E. Cheese's - is that this keychain is probably intended for a kid. I don't know if kids normally carry keys around, but they definitely love keychains, which makes this a nice, inexpensive giveaway for them. They love it, even if they don't actually use it. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:16 PM. Permalink: Showbiz Pizza Billy Bob Keychain
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How the Pros Promo (Part Two)
In Part One we learned how they use promos, but what products do professional trade show planners and exhibitors prefer? Here's some date from the PPAI's recent survey:
The three most commonly used promotional products at tradeshows and events are:
*Writing instruments: pens were most often mentioned
*Wearables: t-shirts, golf shirts and logoed shirts were most commonly mentioned
*Bags: tote bags were most frequently mentioned
Posted by mark at 4:36 PM. Permalink: How the Pros Promo (Part Two)
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Rockstar Straightjacket
| Promotional jackets? Sure, we see them all the time. Here's a promo you certainly don't see every day: a promotional straightjacket. This was done by Rockstar Games to promote the release of their game Manhunt 2. More sinister than a Pita, but just as creative! (via Kotaku) |  |
Posted by mark at 9:12 AM. Permalink: Rockstar Straightjacket
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Unusual Promos Make Smiles
Here's an unusual promotional product, along the same lines as the Children's Tylenol doctor's office promos I featured a few days ago. While promotional toothbrushes are a great product for dentists because they remind patients of their dentist's name between visits, these promotional masks actually make a visit to the dentist a little more fun. For Colgate, who made these promos, it's a great way to get their brand across to their actual customers for a few reasons: 1) it's fun and memorable 2) they benefit from the tacit recommendation being made by the dentist and 3) the branding targets children and youth who influence their parents' spending choices and are also choosing some brands (like toothpaste) that they may favor for the rest of their lives. (via Marketing Alternatif)
Posted by mark at 9:50 AM. Permalink: Unusual Promos Make Smiles
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Tissue Giveaways: Japan's Top Promotional Product
| If you've never been to Japan, you probably wouldn't guess that promotional tissues are far and away the most popular promotional product in the land of the rising sun. In all my years of living in the US (32 if you're counting, I am not) I don't think I've ever been given a packet of promotional tissues. In Tokyo, you'd be hard pressed to make the same statement after about five minutes. Why? I can't tell you, because I don't know. I can tell you this: as much as I love America, we are the ones missing the boat when it comes to free tissues. Think about it next time you enter a store or come out of a subway station: Would it be better if there was someone there handing you a free pack of tissues? Still not convinced? What if that someone was Santa? |  |
Posted by mark at 8:59 PM. Permalink: Tissue Giveaways: Japan's Top Promotional Product
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Promotional Merchandise: Google Goodies
| After featuring the great Yahoo Answers promo gifts, I figured it's only fair to point out that Google has some great merchandise in their company store, too. Does your brand have the power to sell promotional merchandise with your logo? Even if you aren't as big as Google or Yahoo, it might. If it does, you get to kill two birds with one stone, promoting your brand and brining in some extra revenue. |  |
Posted by mark at 8:06 AM. Permalink: Promotional Merchandise: Google Goodies
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Promotional Merchandise: Yahoo Answers Gifts
| Yahoo Answers, a popular service that allows users to submit questions and answer other users' questions just celebrated it's birthday. As part of their one year anniversary, they are offering promotional gifts to their answerers, and they've done a really great job with their gift program. For starters, it's the perfect service for a gift program because the answerers are really part of a community that enjoys being a part of the service. Likewise, Yahoo Answers really depends on it's answerers to have a service at all, so Yahoo benefits from rewarding them and giving them a tangible reminder that they are a part of a community. (In fact, while Yahoo Answers has been remarkably successful, Google Answers was recently shut down.) |  |
The gifts were determined by the level of participation from the answerers, from stickers and magnets all the way up to mugs, custom embroidered caps and logo fleece jackets. The variety of products allows them to give gifts to the widest possible range of participants, while recognizing the most active ones with more valuable gifts. Although they haven't committed to doing it again next year, it also gives the Answerers something to work towards for next year.
There are couple other things I liked about this gift program. One is that they have the Answerers log in to give their desired shipping address, which brings them back to the site and cuts down on sending gifts to the wrong place or to Answerers who aren't interested anymore. Another is that, at each price range, they chose visible gifts, like hats and stickers that will promote the Yahoo Answers service. The answerers who are eligible for gifts and promotional merchandise are also the most likely evangelists for the service, and Yahoo just made it a little easier for them to promote. (via Search Engine Land)
Posted by mark at 9:40 AM. Permalink: Promotional Merchandise: Yahoo Answers Gifts
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Anderson Varejao Promotional Wig
I don't really know much about Anderson Varejao, or the Cavaliers, but I do know that a lot of folks in Cleveland went crazy over Anderson Varejao Wig Night. People loved it so much in 2005 they did it again this year. Custom bobblehead dolls are fun, but this really takes it one step further, because you don't just get a bobblehead you are the bobblehead. I'm hoping ePromos decides to have Mark Yokoyama Wig Night sometime soon.
Posted by mark at 2:40 PM. Permalink: Anderson Varejao Promotional Wig
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Fringe Benefits: Promotional Products as Web Advertising
I've touched on this before, but over the past couple days I noticed a couple great examples (below) of happy promotional products recipients taking photos of the schwag they received and posting them on flickr. Both examples are Creative Commons promos, a sticker and an ornament. The primary goal of most promotional products is to increase brand awareness by exposing the recipient (and others) to an organization's logo and message. Typically this happens when someone uses, wears or looks at the promotional product. Another marketing benefit, potentially overlooked, is when that physical product turns into advertising in other media, such as blogs or a photo community like flickr (and no promos get photographed and added to flickr as much as flickr promos). So make sure your promos are blogworthy and photo-ready, and you may get some extra marketing from them. Best of all, it's free, and even marketers love free stuff.
Posted by mark at 2:17 PM. Permalink: Fringe Benefits: Promotional Products as Web Advertising
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Piggyback Power: How Big Brands Can Help Your Brand
| One of the best ways to increase the perceived value of a client gift is to choose a brand name business gift. When you imprint or embroider that gift with your company logo, you're not only getting your brand noticed, but you're also associating it with the goodwill generated by the brand name of the product you're giving. The power of big brands can even go further than that: I was just reading a web marketer's blog post about some OGIO bags he was planning to order. In his post, he remarked that his friend had seen them in the Firefox company store and "I am much happier buying them now knowing that Firefox decided to go with them." In this case, they made a better promotional business gift not only because of the OGIO brand, but because Firefox had also used them as a promo. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:59 PM. Permalink: Piggyback Power: How Big Brands Can Help Your Brand
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Promo Popcorn Gets Two Thumbs Up
| A promotional video is a great way to introduce a new product or service, but how do you get the right people to watch it? If you believe the old adage that the fastest way to a customer's wallet is through their stomach, try promotional popcorn. That's what HP did recently, and it's generating some positive attention. In their current promotion, they pair promo popcorn with the chance to get free movie tickets after watching their video, closing the loop between getting the customer's attention and getting them to complete the desired action. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:26 AM. Permalink: Promo Popcorn Gets Two Thumbs Up
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The Unbearable Lightness of Apparel
The future of clothing is definitely about to get a lot brighter, and I'm not just talking about lighted message vests for guys anymore. A variety of new technologies are bringing us ever closer to the day when luminescent advertising will be possible on t-shirts and other promotional apparel.
Posted by mark at 4:56 PM. Permalink: The Unbearable Lightness of Apparel
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Promotional Balloons: A Lot of Hot Air?
| We sell many types of promotional balloons, but nothing quite like this. Wonderfully promotional, with a large imprint area, this balloon is a great way to inflate your brand, but probably beyond most promotional budgets. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:27 AM. Permalink: Promotional Balloons: A Lot of Hot Air?
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Match World: Classic Promotional Matches from Japan
Match World is an online collection of matchbook images dedicated to showcasing the best artwork from the ~25,000 matchbooks in the collection of the Japanese Match Manufacturers Association. Included are a wide variety of gorgeous promotional matchbooks. Perhaps it's time to design your own promotional matches. (via Metafilter.)
Posted by mark at 9:39 AM. Permalink: Match World: Classic Promotional Matches from Japan
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Newsworthy Promos for Mimeo
Mimeo.com was recently featured in BtoB Magazine for an integrated promotional campaign that included promotional t-shirts and buttons. As part of a rebranding campaign, these items featured an image of a clown wearing a smock. The moral of the story here is that clowns + promos = a successful and newsworthy branding campaign.
Posted by mark at 1:32 PM. Permalink: Newsworthy Promos for Mimeo
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Promo World News: Zimbabawe
According to allAfrica.com promotional freebies are disappearing from shareholder meetings throughout the country:
"As most Zimbabwean public companies in 2006 embark on cost-reduction measures to remain afloat gone are the days when shareholders would be pampered with bags filled with gifts at Annual General Meetings (AGMs). Most companies have simply dropped off handing out free gifts (often referred to as "freebies") leaving scores of shareholders fuming and feeling companies are treating them like disused property."
Posted by mark at 1:25 PM. Permalink: Promo World News: Zimbabawe
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Promo Capsule
| When the citizens of Duluth opened a time capsule they had sealed in 1956, resident Rose Langlois wore the same outfit she wore when the time capsule was buried. Amongst the items in the capsule, were a number of promotional items, including promotional badges and ribbons. If you get in on a time capsule now, who knows, maybe your promos will outlive your business. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:16 PM. Permalink: Promo Capsule
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Wacky Packs Are Back
James, who manages our Art Department tipped me off about the fact that Wacky Packages are back after a hiatus. They were a sensation in the '70s, combining irreverent humor and popular product packaging. Get 'em before they're gone again, and find out more about the classic wacky packs or Norm Saunders, the artist responsible for most fo the artwork in the original series. What does this have to do with promotional products? Well, nothing exactly, but they are a unique take on branding.
Posted by mark at 11:21 AM. Permalink: Wacky Packs Are Back
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Depression Glass
| Here's a little bit of promo history from the (not made up!) Waxahachie Daily Light about the popularity of depression-era glass. For those of you who don't watch Antiques Roadshow, "Depression-era glassware was a cheap and colorful product given away at the movie theatres or with extra-large bags of flour at the grocery store."
Apparently, the switch to mass production in the early 20th century made glass an affordable promotional product even during the depression: "Many stores used the glass as a marketing incentive. One pharmacy advertisement from the time boasts a free hostess dish with the purchase of a 25-cent tube of toothpaste (and two dishes for a 50-cent tube). General Mills created a large cross-promotion based around cobalt-blue milk pitchers with Shirley Temples face on the side." The era of depression glass is over, but promotional glass remains to this day. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:10 PM. Permalink: Depression Glass
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Getting Ready to Go Back to School at the Teacher's Convention
Sure, it's the middle of summer, but that doesn't stop teachers (and perhaps tired parents) from thinking about back to school time. Last week, the teachers went to the National Education Association's convention in Orange County to try out new products from hand sanitizer to shoes to books and school supplies. But what do teachers like best about these conventions? The Orlando Sentinel got a candid response from one attendee:
"Nearby, at the end of a row of vendors, an exhausted Nancy Wright, an elementary school music teacher from Gas City, Ind., sat on a book carrier she just bought and several bags of promotional items.
When asked what she liked about the convention, she piped up, "freebies."
And then, she added, the networking and camaraderie with fellow teachers."
Posted by mark at 12:12 PM. Permalink: Getting Ready to Go Back to School at the Teacher's Convention
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Super Schwag Rules Metropolis
Metropolis, Illinois is already benefiting from the promotional effects of Superman Returns. The town of 6,500 ins't much like the fictional Metropolis, but for the last 30 years they've embraced the tourist value of their name. According to the Associated Press, "The Illinois Legislature declared Metropolis to be Superman's home in the early 1970s. The local newspaper was The Metropolis News until 1972, when it changed its name to echo the fictional Daily Planet where Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked."
With the new movie on the the town is bracing for record visits to the Superman museum (which contains 75,000 pieces of Superman-related memorabilia) and the store, which sells everything from shot glasses and sunglasses to coloring books.
Posted by mark at 11:58 AM. Permalink: Super Schwag Rules Metropolis
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Classic Cars, Pedal Powered
Can't afford a classic car? How about a promotional pedal-powered version? Promotional pedal cars from the late 1900s through the 1960s have become popular collectors items. Originally they were promotional giveaways for children when their parents bought regular cars. One interesting fact: "pedal cars were based on real cars with the manufacturers actually working with automobile companies in crafting model cars that were later production models, so a 1929 Buick pedal car is actually a 1930 or '31 Buick." Some of the more valuable models are worth over $100,000, making them more expensive than most regular cars. (via The Providence Journal)
Posted by mark at 6:34 PM. Permalink: Classic Cars, Pedal Powered
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Mileage from Your Promos: Wilco Photo Contest
| So you've made some promotional t-shirts and given them out or sold them, but why let the fun end there? With so many ways to share information and photos online, you can have your fans/users/customers send in photos of themselves wearing your promotional gear. Especially if you make it a contest and give free concert tickets to the winners, like Wilco is doing right now. |
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Posted by mark at 9:03 AM. Permalink: Mileage from Your Promos: Wilco Photo Contest
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Promo News: World Edition
In Taiwan:
"Those who criticize President Chen Shui-bian (???) for not working hard enough to bolster the country's economy may soon have to acknowledge that his family and aides are picking up the slack. In recent weeks, in its own unique "style," the president's scandal-ridden family has helped create over 1,000 new business opportunities by sparking a local fashion craze, with son-in-law Chao Chien-ming becoming a popular icon for graphic designers and Internet entrepreneurs alike."
"To promote the NT$800 computer mouse featuring a picture of Chao in handcuffs, the designer cleverly wrote, "By having a Chao mouse, you can single-handedly make sure he will always be under your control." "
From Sweden's The Daily Roxette:
"It was at the very beginning of the "Nordic Rox" show on Sirius satellite radio last Sunday night that Per Gessle premiered the brand new "The Rox Medley." It could be considered the public launch of the Rox 20 anniversary. We here at The Daily Roxette are pretty excited about the whole Rox 20 thing and feel like celebrating... and what better way to do that than to team up with Sirius and give some more stuff away!?!"
Posted by mark at 5:34 PM. Permalink: Promo News: World Edition
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Reklamepennens Venner
| People don't just collect reklamepenner, but they also have reklamepenner events to bring collectors together. Since I can't read Norwegian, I'm kinda guessing from these pictures that a reklamepenner conference involves getting together with reklamepenner collector friends, trading some reklamepenner, and maybe listening to speakers give talks about reklamepenner, which sounds pretty fun. Plus, they've got t-shirts! I'd love to learn more about reklamepenner collecting, so if you collect reklamepenner, email me: mark@epromos.com. |
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Posted by mark at 1:17 PM. Permalink: Reklamepennens Venner
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How High Can a Show Dog Jump?
| The associated press reports that "A man who was denied a red nylon tote bag during a Mother's Day promotion at an Angels baseball game has filed a sex and age discrimination lawsuit against the team." The man doing the suing, Alfred Rava, is a lawyer who had previously made $125,000 by suing San Diego nightclubs over their sexually discriminatory "Ladies' Night" promotions. According to his lawyer, the Anaheim Angels "claimed they didn't have any more bags, but my client said there was a mountain of bags stacked so high a show dog couldn't have jumped over them." That sounds pretty high, and I'll probably get sued for blogging about this. Happy Mother's Day! |
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Posted by mark at 8:10 PM. Permalink: How High Can a Show Dog Jump?
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Everybody Loves Free Stuff...(Part 2)
We recently noted that some people love free stuff so much they pay money for it, and today I am sad to say, some people love free stuff so much they steal it. According to The Nation Newspaper in Barbados: "Cricket officials are trying to get to the bottom of the disappearance of imprinted promotional items for the 2006 Digicel cricket series. On Friday and again yesterday, SUNDAY SUN was informed that several shirts and other items could not be accounted for as the series moved to Guyana." Unfortunately, this is also not the first time someone's decided to steal free stuff.
Posted by mark at 4:09 PM. Permalink: Everybody Loves Free Stuff...(Part 2)
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