A Sugar Free Cup and 2 Nicotine Free Motivators...
I'm rather enjoying this promotional cup that I found. It's a custom promotional cup that highlights the benefits of avoiding the calories in sugar so that you won't have to burn the calories later. It's reminding me of those Vitamin Water commercials where the man tells the woman that she'll have to do 492 sit-ups to burn the calories, and she replies "So I'll have to do 492 more?" I laugh when she looks so devastated. I probably shouldn't but I don't drink Vitamin Water, so I feel justified. The cup above is an advertisement for a sugar substitute, and I'm really a fan of the design of the ad copy. I can just picture coffee drinkers turning the cup so they can finish the sentence. Like dogs chasing their tails...
In unrelated but still exciting news, congratulations to my fellow IT department team mate (and office roomie) Sarah and the art department's own Mike for quitting smoking! Their one week anniversary of being Smoke-Free is tomorrow and its been a hard week for both of them. Congrats guys, and we're all supporting you 100%.
So I found a powerful promotion for a anti-drunk driving service called Arrive Alive. Toilets in bathroom stalls were fitted with wheelchair wheels to send a message to night club patrons. The campaign consisted of three different promotional signs posted above the toilets. Like several well-done promotional campaigns, this one did not use any promotional products. The message itself is strong enough without them. Which one grabs your attention the most?
A. "Drunk Behind One Wheel Could Land you Between Another Two"
B. "Who's Driving?"
C. " Take a Seat and Think about the Consequences of Drunk Driving"
My personal choice is A. The copy is relevant to the cause and it's not too preachy. B.'s message isn't clear and C. sounds too stern.
I'm really liking this campaign for drowning awareness that was done in South Africa. There is a significant number of drowning deaths that occur there each year, and the local authorities believe that it is due to "adult negligence." The target demographic was adult beach goers who read while sitting on the sand. These promotional bookmarks were designed to remind them of the uimportance of paying attention to the children in the water. The bookmark has been designed like a hand reaching out for help. Effective, if only because it's disturbing.
OK, so escalators don't turn, but my pun still works. This ad for a hair salon doesn't make sense when you get on the escalator at the top. It doesn't work if there are people in front of you on the escalator. But once you get to the bottom, or if you are standing at the bottom watching the escalator, it all makes sense.
The different hair styles on each step each line up with the head at the bottom of the escalator to show a variety of hairstyles offered by the salon. I enjoy this in theory, but watch it in action. The escalator definitely moves too fast for anyone to truly appreciate any specific hairstyle.
However, if the salon was handing out some promotional hairbrushes or 3-in-1 kits at the bottom of the escalator I would definitely be more inclined to visit.
Friday night, after the petty snowstorm that hit the Northeast, I headed to the mall to pick up rations (aka Arby's) for the family. Since my original intention was scrap booking supplies from Target I parked on the opposite side of the mall and had to carry the delicious calorie-infused feast quite a way back to the car. While hustling the sodas and food through Target, I happened across a retail product that looked oddly familiar. It was the Zippo Multi-Purpose Lighter (MPL) and I probably would have stopped to take a closer look, but two things stopped me. 1. We sell promotional Zippo Multi-Purpose Lighters so I've seen it before and 2. I was *this* close to dropping my handy little tray of sodas all over myself. So I continued on through the crowded store and hit a road block right by the express lane checkouts. As I excused and pardoned myself through the throngs of shoppers, I got stuck behind one woman who just refused to hear me. As I attempted to wait for her to move away from the extensive collection of baby onesies that she was taking forever to choose, I overheard a wife being frustrated by her husband with what she deemed "a unnecessary purchase." My eavesdropping got the best of me, especially since Onesie woman couldn't figure out that the options of baby attire were the exact same item just in different colors, and I listened in. The unnecessary purchase was the Sportline Hydracoach Sportbottle. Since we sell this item, I know what it does.
The man seemed extremely convinced that he needed the bottle, and argued with his wife for the purchase.
"It calculates how much water you need to drink a day," he argued. "8 glasses, I just did the same thing. Put the bottle down Steve," his wife replied. "But if I'm working out, I'll need more than 8 glasses, and what if I drink too much. Do you know what the effects of over hydration are? I could die!" he responded angrily.
Thank god that Onesie woman moved, because I nearly burst of laughing. Poor Steve. If he worked for a company or joined a gym that truly believed in the importance of hydration, they probably would have given out some promotional Hydracoach Sport Bottles and he wouldn't have to have had such a ridiculous argument with his wife in the middle of Target.
So I was always a fan of the Chutes and Ladders board game as a child, so when I found that the makers of Jelly Tots candy had made a life size board, I was intrigued. It's the South African version of Chutes and Ladders, called Snakes and Ladders. Firstly, that's incredibly frightening and I wouldn't want to play. The giant sized game board even included giant dice so that children were the pawns in the game. I'm incredibly glad that no real snakes were involved, but if they had put the American twist on this game I think the kids could have had fun going on a slide. But like I said, at least if they lost the kids weren't sent to the molten lava pits. Personal opinion: if you are going to create promotional games opt out of including snakes and volcanos.
While I pride myself on finding some of the coolest promotional products (via AdsoftheWorld), sometimes I have to take a break and talk about just how vital promotional products can be in everyday life.
For example, the Java Stop Keytag is an extremely handy item for those Starbucks addicts out there. This miniature oval keytag sits on your keychain and boasts a large imprint area. Now it can be mistaken for any number of promotional key chains, but it's so much more. You see, the white part of the key chain detaches and fits easily into the open mouth piece of coffee cup lids. What's the benefit of this? It keeps the coffee in the cup when you are on-the-go. So when you are walking to the office, your venti Skinny Mocha from Starbucks won't splash out and spill all over your white jacket like mine did this morning.
There are tons of promotional products that are useful, but the Java Stop Keytag would have saved my jacket this morning and I'm kicking myself because I didn't have it on me. And according to the weather report, promotional snowbrushes and ice scrapers will come in handy tomorrow.
With the extreme wind chill that's hitting the Northeast right now, I found this promotional ad to be just the right fit for the blog this brisk Wednesday morning. The ad promotes a ski resort in Canada, and uses large stickers with scenic designs on them to convey the idea of sitting on a ski lift. I can only assume from the looks of it that this ad was placed in a subway station. That works because if subway stations everywhere else are like the ones here in NY, they're always freezing cold! If the ski resort really wanted to get my attention, I would appreciate some promotional hand warmers.
I absolutely love this promotion for the Nintendo Wii's virtual console, but there is a major glitch. The console lets you re-live classic video games, like Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong in their original glory. To make the ads look more realistic (read: old-school Nintendo look) they created the famous characters of Donkey Kong and Mario out of promotional Post-It notes. Each note had an explanation of the virtual console and the tagline "Wii'll Not Forget." Now this is a great promotion, except that with the entire world focused on the green movement, Nintendo looks extremely environmentally irresponsible.
It's a great time to be a New York sports fan. I'm still basking in the glow of the Giants Super Bowl win... what a season! I'll bet you didn't notice what was on the field right after the game - promotional products. The victorious G-men were all wearing their promotional tees and embroidered hats commemorating a Super Bowl championship. The demand for these items in the next few days was immense. What a season, and what a promotion. I'm still smiling about this Super Bowl win, and what's already started? Spring Training! The Mets have Johan Santana on board and are poised to make a run at the World Series. They might just run into their crosstown rival, the evil Yankees empire. Now that we know that Roger Clemens cheated, and it was roid rage when he threw the bat at Piazza, I'm looking forward to October. That's when we'll see Subway Series 2: The Revenge of the Mets. If not that, it could be Mets vs. Red Sox. We took care of Boston in the Super Bowl... if the Yankees can't hold up their end, the Mets will take care of Boston again. Get into rivalry mode this season with baseball promotional products.
No matter your sport, make each game an event with sports promotions.
With the last day of the penny war quickly approaching, competition is getting fierce. People have been faking interest in my day just to come into the office and drop some silver or a dollar bill in the box. In the beginning people tried to be discreet, but now the stealth of the operation has decimated, and it's all out penny warfare. Of course with the deadline quickly approaching, dollar bills are becoming the monetary donation of choice. It's pretty serious. The managers think that they have a leg up on the competition but when I attempted to rally the troops for a valiant effort to take them down, even that failed. It's every team for itself right now, and with less than 24 hours left to raise money for the American Heart Association, winning is on everyone's mind.
I'm thinking the message on this bottle of glue is somewhat fitting to the crew here at Motivators. It's also hysterically ironic because it's Valentine's Day...
I've never been to Brazil and I've never really thought about going. Apparently, people like to fish. So the local Fish and Pay (think country club, but with fishing instead of golf) did this promotion. They could have used any number of fishing promotional items, like promotional fishing bobbers, or even fishing lures, but no. Fake money was scattered on streets, and when patrons bent down to pick it up (thinking its their lucky day) they realized they were actually flyers for the local Fish and Pay. Now I've never seen Brazilian currency, so I have no idea if this is an obvious counterfeit bill or not. But I sure hope those country clubs offer golf, because after being faked out of finding cash, I'd want to hit something. Newflash: Fish don't pay the bills.
I am a huge fan of pizza. Pepperoni, double cheese, peppers...you put it on it, I will eat it. And I know that many others feel the same way. Currently, my New Year's diet is still going strong so I have been strongly resisting the urge for its doughy, cheesy goodness. It's been hard to resist temptation, especially since we were all sent an email this morning stating that pizza is being provided for lunch. However, after seeing this promotion, I can most definitely resist.
An unheard of (and in my opinion unholy) alliance was formed between a pizzeria and a pest control company. The exterminator paid for the pizza boxes and had them custom imprinted with an image of a thoroughly disgusting cockroach. If I ever saw this in person, not only would I never order from that pizza place again, I would probably throw out the rest of the pie, no matter how good it happened to be. I wonder if there was a joint promotion. Promotional fly swatters delivered with the pizza perhaps? Or is the exterminator handing out imprinted pizza cutters?
Either way, it's a bad idea. However, I'm looking forward to my lunchtime salad.
I'm an animal lover, so I couldn't help but fall in love with this bag designed for Greenpeace. The tagline of "Give Me your Hand" works perfectly with the design so that the bag holder looks like their holding the hand of the animal on the bag. 4 color process designs work perfectly for items like promotional bags when there is such a creative idea behind them.
We sell promotional golf tees and they're great for golf outings and country clubs, but I've always wondered about their promotional ability. Sure they're great golf promotional products, but can they really make a branding impact?
Callaway answered my question with a resounding yes. This custom golf tee was created to as a promotion for the Hyper X Driver. The idea is that if you use the Hyper X, your ball will have "sorching speed." Great design, simple tag line and effective marketing of a common promotional product.
As far as promotional products go, I understand the concept of most of them. Although the promotional products that we offer on our website are pretty straight forward, we do custom promotional products as well. Again, I understand the concept of most of them.
This one I do not understand. It's to promote a gym, which is fine and I get that. But a pillow that is custom made to look like a fat stomach? Have people forgotton what pillows are used for? You sleep on them. You don't casually hold them in your lap like this woman (who I bet works for the ad agency that came up with the concept) is doing. Who sits with pillows on their laps? Puppies in your lap? Yes. Kitties? Sometimes. Babies, and little kids? The most acceptable lap sitters ever. But pillows?
If there is one thing that I can say about our Sales Manager, Tony, it's that he is dedicated. He gives 110% to everything that he does, whether it's going the extra mile to help a customer, or leading his bowling team to victory, Tony is a dedicated man. This is the guy who covered himself almost head to toe in green makeup to be the Hulk at a Halloween party. He goes that extra mile...especially if someone messes with him.
Yesterday, our Customer Service Manager, Rachel, hid Tony's phone in a ceiling panel as a joke. It wasn't gone for very long, and everyone had a good laugh about it, even Tony. However, being the dedicated individual that he is, Tony went the extra mile to get back at Rachel for taking his precious Blackberry. Hours after everyone had gone home, Tony worked tirelessly through the night to produce the perfect retribution.
So what do you get when you add one dedicated sales manager who has been the victim of a prank, 3 un-named accomplices, and 20 rolls of tin foil?
Rachel found out this morning when she opened her office door.
As you can see Tony covered everything in aluminum foil and Rachel will be spending the majority of her day unwrapping her office. He even wrapped up all the little promotional products that were sitting on her desk. Her imprinted Motivators tumbler, all her various promotional stress relievers, even her promotional pens all got covered. Dedication...it's the key to success.
War has been declared inside the Motivators' offices. There's no weaponry being used and no lives have been taken. In fact, it's just the opposite. Our entire staff has declared war to help save lives.
February is American Heart Month. Heart releated deaths, including heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease are the number 1 cause of death in America. Therefore, Motivators has declared a Penny War to help raise awareness and funds for the American Heart Association. Here's how it works.
Each team gets a box. The goal of the game to have the most pennies in your box at the end of the week. Each penny counts as 1 point. Easy, right? Well there is a little catch. Other teams can throw in silver (nickels, dimes, or quarters) and even paper to take away your points. So say you have 100 pennies, and throws in a quarter (25 points), you're now down to 75 points.
It seemed like a fun idea when our Operations Director Jen and I had first come up with it, but we had no idea that it was going to get so brutal. There are now stealth ops to put dollar bills, and quarters in other teams boxes. If you're caught, you had better believe that there will be retribution. The smartest people get here early and leave late, and when no one else is around, this is when they strike. When Jen and I weren't looking, Penny Wars became the biggest thing in the office. Team names were chosen and their boxes were decorated. Here's just an example of how hardcore it's been...
The Accounting Department has resorted to threats...
The Art Department has stealthy disguised their box to look like the Adobe Photoshop Box and covered it with various promotional giveaways. Not only does it not look like what it actually is, but Mike (who just lost badly in our football pool) is guarding it like a hawk....
The M&MS (Motivators Managers) keep their box on top of the customer service manager's desk...very hard to reach.
It's a war zone here, but it's all for a good cause. Stay tuned for the latest Penny Wars updates...
So the NY Giants won the mother of all football games last night. Since I have absolutely no clue about football, I didn't watch the big game last night. Instead I tuned into the Law and Order: SVU marathon, and the commercials were hardly as entertaining. Aside from the Giants winning, there was plenty of other winning going on.
I was supposed to meet up with our Art Department Supervisor, Keri and go to a local bar to check out the game, but I opted out. There were typical bar giveaways like promotional koozies, and imprinted keychains given out. Keri won two raffles. First was for a promotional chair from Budweiser and the second was for a promotional duffel bag (also from Budweiser). Additionally, she won $125 in the first quarter of one of the superbowl pools she was in.
In other news, Motivators own defending NCAA pool champ Mike in the art department tried his luck at a football pool (3 in fact, 16 boxes total) and failed miserably. In our own Motivators pool (which he ran) he purchased 6 boxes. When the pool was almost complete and there was but one box left, Mike thought to himself "Maybe I'll put down Office Pizza Party. If it wins, I'll buy everyone pizza. One box won't win though, I'm safe." Mike, you should have simply put your own name down, but on behalf of the rest of the office, I'm looking forward to the pizza. :)
Katie, one of our wonderful interns, took the second and third quarter and our sales manager Tony, took the fourth quarter slot.
In honor of Mike, I thought I'd highlight his favorite ad that ran last night. Check out this oddly hysterical commercial for Bridgestone tires.
It's Friday and for several people across the world there are two very important words that coincide with the end of the week: Happy Hour. Several people enjoy the after work festivities that are involved with heading out to the bar after a long week of work. And Happy Hours usually have great specials like 2 for 1 beers. So with the end of the week just a few hours away, I had to post about the most frightening custom beer mug that I've seen.
Apparently in the Czech Republic, alcohol-influenced domestic violence is a problem that needed addressing. So here is the custom beer mug that is intending to solve the problem. Promotional mugs are great for advertising your name and business logo. They sit on desks all day and get the attention you want. However, since this mug is designed to look like the person holding it is punching someone right in the face. This mug is so disturbing on so many levels. I don't know if it will stop any alcohol-induced domestic violence disturbances, but it will definitely stop me from ever going to that bar the next time I'm in teh Czech Republic.
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