A Puzzling Promotion...

Well I'm caffeinated, so I can't use my lack of coffee as an excuse for not really understanding the full concept of this promotion. Promotional puzzles are always fun, and I do have to agree with the tagline. Life is fun, and I'd like to keep living. I even enjoy the retro 70s style orange color. It reminds me of an ugly shag carpet, and for some reason I enjoy that. However, why connect this to rail road safety? If anything, tyou should be paying attention to what's going on when you are near a rail road! If you're playing these games, you've already distracted yourself because these games are addicting. These are the kind of games that you used to get as cheap prizes at carnivals when you were a kid, and you'd stare at them for hours trying to get the puzzle correct. On the plus side, you'll remember the message about rail road safety. Just don't play with it by a rail road!

Bloggers without Coffee=Crazy

This is the result of my ability to blog when there is absolutely no coffee in my life. I went to Starbucks and the drive-thru line was a little much. So then, I took the parkway to work and that bypassed about 4 Dunkin Donuts and another Starbucks. After hitting traffic, I couldn't stop at the Starbucks right around the corner from our office. So I got here and opted for tea, but there was only decaf left.



And this is what my brain chooses to blog about when there is no caffeine in my life. It's not actually a promotional product, it's a print ad but that's ok. And I would not advise promotional cups being made out of caramel because it would be sticky and messy, but it sure would be delicious.

So to sum up today's lesson: Sarah - Starbucks = This Blog.

When Gorillas Attack...Don't Look Them in the Eye

Here's some helpful advice from a health insurance company:





If a gorilla ever escapes from the zoo, do not look it in the eyes. Apparently, a gorilla named Bokito attacked a female visitor when it escaped from the zoo. The visitor had made frequent trips to the zoo the week beforehand and often made eye contact with Bokito. So the insurance company handed out these promotional glasses to help solve the problem. I'm sure that the children who had nightmares about the people with the freaky eyes at the zoo were not factored into the equation when this promotion was in the developmental stage. Also, if a gorilla does escape how much will these glasses really help? What if you turn your head to talk to a friend and the glasses are facing the gorilla? How fast can you run away when you can only see through those teeny eyeholes? Something to think about, isn't it?



Additionally, my initial assumption is that the female visitor was at the zoo on the day of said attack. If she was not, then the insurance company should have given out some promotional products that will help you conceal your identity from gorillas at the zoo. Because apparently, they know where you live. So don't look them in the eyes. It's just as dangerous as giving them your social security number. They'll show up at your home or your job and they'll attack. Bokito will find you.

Gorillas don't mess around.

You Want Me to Stick That Sticker WHERE?

There's much to be said about promotional stickers and where you can put them. However, this is by far the most interesting choice for a promotional decal that I have ever seen.

The tagline says "When we say strong, we mean it." And that's all the explanation needed.

(Personal Note: I would not like to be the one responsible for attaching or detaching these stickers to their intended location.)

Recycable...Biodegradable...Edible?

Fiat, a popular Italian car manufacturer recently did an ad that was printed on 100% edible paper. To quote Dr. Cox from Scrubs, "Sounds like good roughage to me." Seriously though, I understand the purpose of this is to work in conjunction with the ad copy, but is this going to become a new snack food? What about paper cuts?

While we don't have edible paper, we do have recycled paper products. And for any paper product purchased (regular paper or recycled paper), we'll plant a tree.

We won't make you eat it. We promise.

Bookmarks for Homeless Children

Just like everywhere else in the world, Turkey has a large number of underprivileged children who need assistance. To help raise awareness and encourage donations, promotional bookmarks were created and placed in books at book stores. However, I don't really understand what the design of the bookmarks have to do with homeless and under privileged children. The hands (similar to the "Help I'm drowning" bookmarks) are all in different poses. One is a simple hand that looks like it's waving. One is the middle finger (not exactly very appropriate for children) and one is the Star Trek Vulcan salute. I'm all for custom bookmarks, but I prefer when they make a little bit more sense. I get that the Vulcan one was to go in Star Trek books, but really? And the middle finger? Would you send money to someone who was flipping you off? I wouldn't. In my opinion it's a case of good concept vs. poor execution.

Milk, Eggs, Cheese, Catcher in the Rye...

Anyone else want to break out into the "One of These Things is Not Like the Other" song from Sesame Street? The Greenville Literacy Association (the same people responsible for bringing you the mini book Post-It notes) placed used books on Supermarket shelves to promote their Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale.



Most advertisements usually garner a quick glance, however seeing promotional books right next to my organic Morning O's would make me take a closer glance and most likely remember the campaign. However, I do love a good romance novel...I wonder if I could buy that Nora Roberts book.

The Power of the Post-It

There's nothing more helpful in a busy office environment than a Post-It note. But for the most part, they're pretty boring. Of course, we can custom imprint brightly colored logos and even produce a full color imprint but the truth remains the same: a Post-It note is a Post-It note. Except when it's a book.



This promotion done by the Greenville Literacy Association offered mini Post-It notes housed in book jackets made to look like classic books. These teeny little "books" sat next to various condiments and napkin dispensers at local restaurants. Their unique design attracted attention and as a result, advertised the association's "Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale."

Yet another way Post-It's save the day!

Branding your Business Card...

There's a lot to be said about business cards. These simple little pices of cardstock carry pertinent information about your business. They're easy ways for clients and colleagues to get in touch with you. So why not stand out a little with your business card? In the tradition of the lego business card, comes the dog tag business card.



These custom dog tags were imprinted with important information and doubled as business cards. They're thicker than usual business cards and the little chain makes sure that they are easily accessible. Love this idea.

New Kids on The Block Boast Biggest Turnout Audience Ever at Today Show

It's true. After 15 years of waiting, fans have finally been rewarded with one of the most talked about reunions to date. All 5 New Kids on the Block members (that's Donnie, Joey, Jordan, Danny and Jon for those who don't know them) announced last month to my utter delight that they have reunited and that they would be playing the Today show summer concert series on May 16th. The day has finally arrived and to say that their comeback was met with a "warm welcome," would be putting it mildly.

Just watch any of the Today Show videos on the official Today website and you can see that thousands turned out to see the 5 boys from Beantown strut their stuff once again. And being the true journalist that I am, I made sure that Motivators was right on the front lines to bring you the all the action. After all, these were the guys who made promotional buttons the hottest things to ever hit a jean jacket since the Bedazzler. From bedsheets to baseball cards, these mega pop stars had everything with their name on it. So I simply had to be there to report on the first wave of promotional products imprinted with the New Kids name. I really felt it was my duty...and it has absolutely nothing to do with Joey McIntyre's baby blues.

So onto the products. Because we're so special, Motivators happened to get a supreme spot in the VIP section for the concert this morning. In fact, we were right next to Lenny. For those of you who don't know, Lenny is the ultimate Today show fan. He's there every day, regardless of the weather. And speaking of weather, it was not in our favor this morning. However, the folks at the Today Show, took care of us. When the drizzle first started, promotional caps were given out. The only requirement was that if you took one, you had to wear it for the duration of the show. Because there were going to be aerial shots, the staffers wanted everyone to be wearing the hats which boasted the Toyota logo and advertised the summer concert series.



When the downpours started (and for those of you who watched the show, it WAS as bad as it looked) staffers gave out plastic promotional ponchos. The ponchos were imprinted with the Today Show logo, so fans at home could see that the show cares about their audience. I opted to not have the poncho, however I snagged a cap. It didn't help much.

However, the one promotional product that I simply couldn't live without was a New Kids on the Block promotional button. They brought them back especially for the Today show and the fans were clamoring for them. They were the hottest item, but of course we got the goods.

Promotional...garbage?

To promote their new zero calorie soda, Mineirinho Zero created an interesting promotion. Empty sugar packets were imprinted the the company's logo and left on tables in restaurants. So...promotional garbage is the way to go? Leaving trash on tables is a good way to get brand recognition? Personally, the theory works but it's too easy to overlook. Who reads empty sugar packets? And if you put empty sugar packets in with all the full sugar packets...well that will just make people angry. Personally, tangible promotional products work better than ones that will thrown away.

I Thought Children WEREN'T Supposed to Eat Paste...

It's about time to quote one of my all-time favorite characters from a movie. It was Alicia Silverstone's character Cher in Clueless, who once described a girl as a "Monet," and further explained by saying "From far away, it's ok. But up close its a big old mess!" This promotion is definitely a "Monet."



From far away, the idea of a spoon designed to look like an egg is a cute idea. However the specifics and the execution of this promotion are all kinds of wrong.

The "yolk" of the egg is not imprinted upon the spoon. Probably because people wouldn't want their children putting anything with paint on it in their mouths. That pesky little four letter word: lead. So while I applaud them for not harming the children by going that route, their alternate route was worse. The "yolks" were stickers. Little note for the design team: children should not eat glue.

An egg stress reliever would have been just as successful.

Dress Better than Sarah Jessica Parker

I really cannot come up with any sort of justification/explanation/excuse/understand/ect for whatever is attached to Sarah Jessica Parker's head at the London premiere of Sex and the City: The Movie. So I'm leaving it to the pro's: The Motivators Fashion Police. Between working with promotional apparel and keeping up to to date with the hottest styles and trends, these three certainly know what they're talking about. However, I've added some info as to why they're our experts anyway. Take it away ladies...

Name: Jennifer



Personal Style: Corporate Casual meets Classic Comfort.

Why She's an Expert: Noting Halloween as her favorite holiday, Jennifer prides herself on knowing everything there is to know about "costumes"; both on and off the red carpet.

Jennifer Says:
Her dress is adorable, but too young for her. Her "hat" looks more like a topiary or Amy Winehouse's behive: ratty and full of bugs.

Name: Carolina


Personal Style: Trendy City Girl meets Suburbia.

Why She's an Expert: Several fashion marketing classes in college coupled with her numerous subscriptions to every fashion mag on the planet ensure that Carolina knows everything about the threads people are sporting.

Carolina Says:
I love the dress and it’s perfect to wear out to a fancy dinner or party. But the pineapple hat really has to go. It doesn’t go too well with her outfit.


Name: Rebecca


Personal Style: Flip Flop Fashionista

Why She's an Expert: In addition to being the one Motivator who will sport flip flops in 20 degree weather, Rebecca has been known to mix bright colors and patterns beautifully. She's also a hardcore SATC fan.

Rebecca Says:
Her dress is perfect for Sex And The City press. It embodies her character, Carrie, on the show beautifully. As for the acorn/rose/butterfly combo on her head, it's something I would never dream of someone actually wearing, but somehow it suits her.



The experts have made their cases...what do you think?

Pencil Extension...

The World Wildlife Federation has been doing several promotions about environmental awareness because the world's environment affects the world's animals. Here's yet another one...




According to the post on Ads of the World, each day over 20 million pencils are thrown away because they are too small to write with. So WWF created a pencil extension, made from recycled materials of course. Just slip the extension on the short pencil and ta-da! A full size pencil once again. These are a great idea, and I'd love to see them available as eco-friendly promotional products.

Taxi!

I find this promotion done by Absolute Vodka, not only fun and intriguing, but socially responsible as well. To boost their new marketing campaign, "In an Absolute World..." they designed things that would be perfect in a perfect world.



For example: taxis that are Porsches. I agree with this and would love to see this happen in NY for the following reasons:

1. Porsches smell like luxury. NY cabs smell like bad air freshner attempting to cover up the stench of body odor. And usually, that little pine tree will not over power the scent emitted by your driver.

2. Porsches are supposed to go fast. Riding in them seems like an adventure. NY taxis go fast, however riding in them seems like the path to your demise.

3. Porsches are pretty. Taxis? Not the most attractive things on the road.

In addition to this promotion being eye-catching, its very socially responsible of a liquor company to provide taxi service. It promotes taking taxis rather than drinking and driving. And personally, I'd much rather have a ride in a Porsche than recieve some light up promotional products at the bar.

Lost Keys?

There's some speculation going on over at Ads of The World regarding whether or not this promotion, did in fact happen, but if it did, I think it falls short.

Mercedes Benz of Toronto supposedly created these promotional keychains, attached them to keys and left them in a few different places around the city. The idea was to drive traffic to their website, which was promoting the fact that Mercedes now come equipped with a push button start. Great, right?

Now I don't know about you, but if I'm walking along and see keys on the street, my first instinct is not that its an ad. In fact, even if I picked them up I don't think I'd get it right away. The tagline "Lose Your Keys," clearly implies that this is in fact a promotion, but for what? Is the average person going to connect the lost keys to the fact that Mercedes have push button ignitions?

Help! There's a Little Man Scaling My Cup

This promotion done for The House Cafe Tea really shows what interesting packaging can do for a product. The tag of this tea bag is shaped to look like a person, so that when placed in the cup, the little man is grapling down the side of it. The tea is for the health conscious, so this makes sense. And it's even fun if you drop the tag in your tea by accident (as I often do) because then, instead of being frustrated, you can go on a Search and Rescue mission with your stirrer.

Since they give these out at The House Cafe, I would love to see some fun sayings on promotional mugs.

The 5 Cardinal Rules Of Promotion

Out of all the creative inventive promotions that I've seen, this one is definitely low on the list. Let's take a look at the top 5 cardinal rules broken with this promotion.

5. Thou Shalt Not Touch My Stuff.
People don't like their cars touched or their personal space invaded. I'm one of them. If you put something on my car, the first thing I would probably do is panic that I couldn't get it off. And if my first reaction to your company is panic, it's not a good sign.

4. Thou Shalt Give Me Something Re-Usable.
One of the benefits of promotional magnets is that they can be re-used. I have a slew of promotional business card magnets holding stuff up on my cabinets. But this giant magnet is cut to the size of an actual sunroof, so who can actually re-use that?

3. Thou Shalt Promote to All!
Granted you want to reach the owner of the car to encourage them to purchase a sunroof, but what about other drivers on the road? If the driver leaves this on their car the only people who will be able to see it are truck drivers.

2. Thou Shalt Go Green!
With absolutely no need for this magnet and no ability to re-use it, the creators have just created useless garbage. And with the world "going green," do you really want to be that guy? To quote Dr. Cox from Scrubs, "Come on, don't be that guy. You're so much more than that guy."

1. Thou Shalt PROMOTE THYSELF!
So you've created useless garbage by giving someone a non-usable magnet on their precious car, and that's bad enough. But say you've actually reached someone. I don't know, a non Eco-friendly giant who needs a big magnet for instance. Where does the giant go to get himself a sunroof?

No company info, no phone number, no website, no contact info AT ALL! The cardinal rule of promotional products: Thou Shalt Promote Thyself!

Promotions: Where art Thou?

A Promotional Sign We Can All Enjoy

I hate the dentist more than any other experience in the entire world. I'd rather walk on firey lava drizzled over firey coals than go to the dentist. And I always get that same sinking feeling when I pull into my dentist's parking lot: the mixture of fear, dread and a little bit of nausea. I cannot stand the dentist.



Hence the reason I love this promotional sign. If I saw this on my dentist's door, I might actually crack a smile. And for the people out there that feel the same way I do about the dentist, they can understand that smiling is a rarity.

Shiatsu + Bubble Wrap= AWESOME

Here's an interesting promotion that shows that you don't always need to spend a lot of money to attract attention. You can just use one of the world's oldest distractions: bubble wrap.



This promotional poster invites people to touch it and when they do, the bubble wrap underneath it pops and sounds like cracking ribs. As uninviting as that concept sounds, who cares? It's bubble wrap!



Believe it or not, bubble wrap is actually therapeutic and is one of the cheapest stress relievers you can buy. Sure it's not promotional but you can squeeze the bejeezits out of it and feel the tension just melt away.

And as an added Friday bonus, here's some Virtual Bubble Wrap. I know it's not the real thing and I know it seems like a tease, but it's the closest thing I can give you through the magical world of computers.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Promotional Doorstop Makes Sense

One thing that there is never a shortage of in a doctor's office (aside from those horrendous gag-inducing tongue depressers) is promotional products. The phramceutical industry is one that is dependant on the use of promotional goods. Whether it's a pop-up pen advetising viagra, or a slew of promotional clipboards, promotional products are always around.

The reason I like this promotion is because its completely different than anything else I've seen and it really relays the message about the product it's advertising. This promotional doorstop is promoting a headache medication.

I'd say it gets the job done just nicely.