Passing the Baton for great Advertising

An advertising agency in Japan found an inexpensive and effective way to promote the Special Olympics. The “Message Relay” began last July and plans on never ceasing. A red baton was engraved with information about the Special Olympics and a web address for the “Message Relay.” After being handed the red baton, recipients are asked to report their status on the website and continue to pass on the baton.

This idea helped to inform people about the empowering Special Olympics while creating a hype. People love checking the website to see where the baton has made it and receiving the baton has been called a “warming moment…as if it were a present from a stranger.”



The promotional baton cost $42 to make but has accounted for an approximate $112,000 of free publicity. Motivators has many custom sports and outdoor items that could similarly give off free publicity. Products like promotional bags will constantly be advertising for your business because they aren’t going to be stuffed away in drawers.

Consider following this innovative way of advertising your business with a traveling promotional product. I’ve heard of those teddy bears left at airports with notes saying, “Mail a letter to this address with your story of where the bears traveled with you. Then leave him in a public place for the next person.” The same deal goes for the, “Where’s George?” website. Sign in. Enter the code on your bills ($1 to $100 bills) and trace back to find its past recipients. Cool ideas like this help to connect people. Making bonds is incredibly important and celebrating the awesome Special Olympics is a rare example of beautiful human interaction.