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The Body Image Tape Measure
With the office in full weight loss mode and many of us focusing on developing a healthier lifestyle, it's important to remember that there is a line. Over dependence on body image can be fueled by a variety of factors: pressures from the media, low self esteem, as well as several other things. But the most important thing to realize is that you don't need to be a size 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 to be accepted. As long as your healthy, that's all that matters. Sadly, in Aisa the organization Mary France Bodyline disagrees. They targetted women who were "young, figure conscious and upper class" with a unique, slightly disturbing promotional item. These custom tape measured stopped at 36" and then boasted the message "Stop at 36" followed by the organizations phone number. This disturbing promotion was distributed "where women who cared about their looks frequented: salad bars, lingerie stores, and salons."  According to the National Organization for Women: As many as 10 million women and girls suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia, in the United States alone.
Approximately one million men and boys suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia, in the United States alone.
An additional 25 million people in the U.S. struggle with binge eating disorder.
Eighty-six percent of people with eating disorders report the onset of the illness by the time they reach the age of 20 (by no means is an eating disorder "less severe" when the eating-disordered person is above the age of 20).
An estimated 85-95% of people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia and 65% of people with binge eating disorders are female.
A shocking 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat.
Young women that have anorexia are 12 times more likely to die than other women their age.
Am I saying that these tape measures will make people develop these disorders? No, absolutely not. But, any of these women mentioned in the above statistics certainly care about their body image. In fact, for many of them it's practically an obsession. What they need and what everyone needs is acceptance. If there was a little bit more of that in the world, might be a nicer place, don't you think?
Napkins: Hey, You're Using Them Anyway, Right?
Now this falls in the category of hey, why not? Normally, promotional products that are disposable are not high on my list of favorite things but sometimes it's okay like in the case of these custom napkins created for a famous radio station in Turkey. Going off the theory that it's common place for a fan to request a musician to play a song by writing their request on a napkin, they had custom napkins imprinted with the phone number for their request line. I mean, people are using the napkins anyway right? It's not like they created something completely wasteful. 
And Inside That Box Was a Smaller Box...
Everyone knows matyroshka. Doesn't sound familiar? They're also called Russian nesting dolls and the concept is simple. One small doll is placed inside a larger doll and that larger doll is placed inside and even larger one. They look like this.  Well, in preparation for the Olympic games, McDonalds took this concept and ran with it. A flagship McDonald's location was right across from the Russia house during the Vancouver games. Athletes were gifted with typical McDonald's bags and inside, it seemed was a typical Big Mac box. But inside that box was a smaller box...and inside that box was an even smaller box. Finally, when the tiniest box of all was opened, it revealed a coupon for free food from McDonald's.  Now I'm not entirely sure just how healthy McDonald's is for athletes, but regardless of that fact: bravo on the ad execution. Works perfectly towards the target audience and let's be honest, a coupon for free food is always good to find. In fact, coupons for anything are enticing. Like, did you know that by becoming a fan at the Motivators Facbebook page you will have access to an exclusive discount for Facebook fans? It'a true story. You all should check it out. :)
An Exhausted Idea
Yep, you guessed it: more stuff being stuck on my car promotions. This time, it's in Turkey and the promotion is for USO Exhaust Systems who wanted to encourage people to invest in new exhaust systems for their vehicles. Noble effort, done with promotional stickers shaped like tongues, except for the fact that by sticking a sticker on my car, it's still MY CAR that you're touching.  Will people never learn?
Promotions To-Go
Rally Motors over in Sweden wanted a unique way to bring their branding to customers far and wide. With a fleet of some of the fastest cars known to man, they chose an interesting approach for their promotion.  Custom take-out boxes were created, addressed and mailed to potential customers. Inside, was an invitation to the fastest dinner in Sweden. It's simple in execution and it could be a good idea but there's one problem: it's completely disposable. Maybe if they'd put in a few
Custom Soccer Balls Encourage a Drug Free Lifestyle in Iran
In Iran, 1 in 17 children are addicted to drugs. This incredible statistic is absolutely frightening and its not surprising that there are an insurmountable number of anti-drug programs targetting school children. This one, posted over at Ads of the World involves custom soccer balls (or as the rest of the world calls them, footballs) and claims that with just one soccer ball, 22 children are kept away from doing drugs.  For the most part, that's true but without quantifiable data to serve as evidence that the soccer players aren't actually using drugs, its difficult to tell whether the campiagn was successful. In addition to the custom soccer balls, fundraising campaigns were set up for the Hikeshi Project on blogs and twitter. Sadly, @hikeshiproject only has 10 followers and it doesn't seem like much of a campaign has been created at all.
Custom Railroad Crossing Lays Down The Law
Sometimes when people are in a hurry, they can take chances without realizing they're taking them. One of the greatest examples of this is how people run across railroad tracks after the gate has already come down. While people may think that they can easily make it across the tracks, the truth of the matter is that it's not always the case. And more importantly, it's dangerous.  The Euro RSCG, responsible for Indonesian Railways wanted to remind people of just how dangerous taking chances like this can be and what better way to do that than to implement a promotion into the railroad tracks themselves? The common crossing gate which comes down was transformed into a giant cleaver that reads (when translated) "Don't Be Reckless, Stay Safe." It's simple in theory, but as long as it's effective, that's all that matters. Because this campaign being effective saves lives and that's what truly matters.
The Unicef Tap Project
This blog has covered a variety of UNICEF promotions in the past and it seems that, once again they've risen to the challenge of creating a unique promotion dedicated to raising awareness about a worthy cause. here's the scoop from UNICEF's website: What is the UNICEF Tap Project?
In 2007, the UNICEF Tap Project was born in New York City based on a simple concept: restaurants would ask their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free, and all funds raised would support UNICEF’s efforts to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world.
Growing from just 300 New York City restaurants in 2007 to thousands across the country today, the UNICEF Tap Project has quickly become a powerful national movement.
During World Water Week, March 21-27, 2010, the UNICEF Tap Project will once again raise awareness of the world water crisis and vital funds to help the millions of children it impacts daily. All funds raised support UNICEF's water, sanitation and hygiene programs, and the effort to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world. The best part is that the Tap Project has expanded across the world. Over in Korea, check out these promotional pint glasses that were designed with a holographic sticker attached to the bottom. When laying flat, the image of a sad child is all that can be seen, but as the patron drinks the water, the holographic sticker changes to show a smiling child and the words Please Join Now.  While customers who were dining at these participating restaurants didn't have a choice in their donation, since they were already being charged a dollar for their water, the glasses served as a reminder of the cause and brought more attention to it.
Promotional Hockey Jerseys take Facebook By Storm
We've already determined that promotional products are the best way to truly support a cause or advertise a business. The statistics have already been put out there by organizations like the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) and the Advertising Specialties Institute (ASI) who have stated that promotional items have the best return on investment. And in a world where hundreds of millions of people use Facebook daily as a way of connecting with friends, family and colleagues, its not surprising that someone has figured out a way to encorporate promotional items into everyone's favorite social networking site. No, we're not talking about the Motivators Facebook Fan Page, although that is the perfect way to keep in touch with the all the upcoming sales and goings on with your favorite promotional products company. :) We're talking about Molson Canadian's latest Facebook app designed to not only promote their brand but to encourage hockey fans of Team Canada to show their support during the Olympics. The application, which launched just one week ago on February 12, and boasts over 120,000 users, allows hockey fans to create a custom virtual Team Canada hockey jersey boasting their last name instead of a players.  It's an easy way to show support for the team and we can easily get behind anything that involves the customization of a promotional product, virtual or otherwise!  PS: Big thanks to Motivators fan Wendy for alerting us to this awesomeness! Do you have the scoop on some promotional product news or know of something that would make an awesome blog? Become a Motivators Fan on Facebook and leave us a comment on our wall! We love interacting with our fans and spreading awareness of awesome promotional items!
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