My sister recently took her baby with her to get her taxes done at H&R Block. While she was there, they gave her a cute onesie that said "I'm  tax deductable." We both thought that was a cute idea!

 The most interesting Promotional Merchandise being used in my line of work, is the pens with the company name. I like the idea of pocket notebook/calendar with company name also. People alway's use them, and easy to carry. Another idea I think would be good is maybe scented air freshners with company name on them. That would be good for customers, we could put those in our officer to sale, after customers pay for having their vehicle worked on. By the way I am a woman that owns a garage for vehicle repair.

A little girl walking her dog.   The dog had a sign on it promoting a lemonaide sale. 

I remember visiting a small, locally owned nursery in the Central Coast of CA where they were offering promotional plastic watering cans in the shape of animals with a purchase over $10. These cans were part of a "gardening with your children" weekend and were designed to catch a child's eye, heart and imagination and introduce them into the wonderful world of gardening. The watering cans came in a variety of bright colors and had the logo of the nursery applied with clear waterproof labels on the side of the animal shape. The excitement generated from a bright pink elephant watering can lured my friend's daughter into wanting to participate in the family vegetable garden, which taught her about sustainable living, growing your own produce for consumption, the benefit of weeding and beneficial garden bugs...quite a feat since she thought all bugs were "icky".

Of all the advertising promotions that I have ever encountered, I think the most memorable was for a taxi company.  The item was a cast iron old fashioned yellow cab advertising the company's logo and telephone number on the front driver's and front passenger's doors.  The windshield displayed the current time and date.  There was a button on the vehicle and when I pressed it, it said:  "For fast and reliable service, call Yellow Cab at 555-555-5555.  Thank you for your business."  A paperweight, a toy, a clock, and an advertisement...all-in-one.  Awesome!!!

I love fun gadgets and interative toys that repond to pressing a button or fliping a switch that causes an animation or flash of a light or a voice to activate.. I believe most people like things interactive especiall thes days. With that in mind I was  introduced to a new radio station that plays the music stylings  from the old school crooners and is called called Martini in the morning and I was given a simple cute little pin that was a  martini glass that looked like it was filled to the brim  with a  green olive  stuffed with red  pimento that blinked off and on . I thought it was so cute and reminisent of the time of the music the station played . I mean come on, the Rat Pack and their signiture  Matinis..... A very simple promotional piece yet  it said so much....and I dont even  drink!!! Tinamarie

Temporary tattoos of QR tags. It was really cool to be able to tag yourself and let people scan you. Fun way to spread the word.

I was at a concert and a band was promoting Jagermeister.  They threw hats, tshirts, keychains, and much more into the crowd.  The Promotional Merchandise was sealed in a plastic bag which they would rip open and throw the merchandise into the crowd.  One of the bags were not completely ripped open before they threw it, and it came right to me.  I got 5 free keychains and 3 shirts.  I was also able to put the shirt on and get a free shot of jagermeister at the bar after purchasing one. 

I own a shop across the street from a record shop. For my grandopening party, I asked them if they would put together a mix tape. They said sure, and then relayed that they had to stop broadcasting their radio program and how happy it would make them if they could do a weekly mix for me using their instore records collection, and we would advertise for each other. We called it the shop cast. After the first week a local antique shop started to play it, then there were 5 then, it ended up with 15 different shops playing it and advertising just like big businesses. The record shop started their radio show again, and now broadcasts every day from 1pm to 7pm off of their website and I can listen to awesome music and we can reach many more people. 

In 2003 I was one of the first Marine units to return back to the states.  Words cannot express the view of the US coastline after spending months in Kuwait and Iraq.  Most of our personal supplies had been exhausted during the mission. Once back home, the guys and gals that had families, went with them. The rest of us went to our new temporary living areas. Most of us had stored our cars and belongings with a loved one. It was late in the day, and it never crossed my mind that I lacked things like soap for a hot shower.  In fact, I did not realize I had nothing until I got to my room. There on the bed was a care package assembled by local community businesses. Obviously, there were logos, even if it was in the form of a thank you card with the item supplied. There was a towel and wash cloth in a bag from Wal-mart, soap and other toiletries from a local hotel chain, a coupon from a cab company, and some coupons and gift cards from restaurants and grocery stores.

My favorite promotion was an event I hosted. As a yarn shop and fiber arts supply store we get in new yarns all the time for the different seasons. For example wools for winter, cottons for summer. Sometimes people get over whelmed with the choices and don't know what to make with the new yarns. So what we did is a "Yarn Tasting". We gave 2 yard lengths of each yarn and paired it with a few different patterns that we thought the yarn would be good for. This year we are  having a local wine shop do a small tasting and pair them with a yarn that has similar discriptors such as "Smooth, clean, soft, hearty, earthy, strong, etc". It is always a blast and people appreciate that they can feel the yarns and work with them before they commit to a making a new sweater.

The best promotional product I have ever encountered was a "free" t-shirt being given away on campus by a credit card company. The back of the shirt had the heading "You Might Be a College Student If..." -You haven't seen your roomates in days. -You have ever eaten Ramen Noodles several times in one week. -You have ever written a check for 65 cents. -You consider macaroni and cheese a balanced meal. -You have ever stayed up all night so you wouldn't sleep through your morning class. It was a great example of truly knowing your consumer!

We have a small screwdriver set with a company's info on it that we use all the time.  It is very handy.

I guess for me it was a bottle of wine.  This was a very good wine, but instead of the name of the vinyard on the label, they were able to put their name on the label.  The realtor would give a bottle of wine as a house warming gift on the day of closing.  It would make the first night in your new home a very enjoyable & memorable occasion.  Or the wine could be saved for a future party where alot of people would see the name of the realtor.  This was a great way for potential buyers to ask questions of the home owners about their experiences working with this realtor, in a relaxed and non-stressful environment.

There was a glue company that was trying to show (at the National Hardware Show) how strong the glue was so they had an actual Sumo Wrestler. He was HUGE and the visual impact of strength was captivating and show stopping. They also had small sumo wrestler toys that were spongy for give aways.

I am the type of person who likes to keep things that I  can wear, so any Baseball hats and Tshirts I have ever received at giveaways or expos I keep. One of the most memorable was a Tshirt that read a somewhat ambiguous controversial saying promoting a VOIP company reading "Can I Plug It In?" A Tshirt so ambiguous caught not only my attention, but anyone who saw me with it on.

A Disney key chain at Walt Disney World that when you pressed a button a recording with kids laughing would play.

As a Hurricane came bearing down on Houston, TX, thousands of people turned out for the Van's Warped Tour.  Why?  Vans was handing out rain ponchos with their company logo and website address on them.  Not only did I have a great time; I also stayed mostly dry.  To this day I remember the name, the logo and the website address.  Should I ever forget I can always go look as I still have the poncho hanging in my office.  It was an absolute stroke of genius on their part ...wish I'd thought of it.