The FDA’s ban on tobacco companies’ use of promotional products has now gone into effect.  We talked about this ban at length as it was passed nearly a year ago.  Tobacco companies are no longer allowed to use their logos on promotional items.  This ban is meant to protect America’s youth from marketing campaigns that encourage smoking.

While we support this ban to fullest extent, we have covered this story at length to show the power of promotional products.  When used to promote a business or a worthwhile cause, promotional products have proven themselves as a marketing effort that can’t be duplicated by any other medium.

In order to create awareness and encourage people to fill out their 2010 Census form, the U.S. Census Bureau spent a whopping $22.7 million dollars on promotional products including coffee mugs, notebooks, lunch bags.  Rumored to be as high as $1 billion spent on promotional products, it’s clear through this spending amount just how valuable and impacting promotional products can be if that much budget was allocated for promotional products alone.

An estimated 65.2 million promotional items were given away to create as much participation as possible.  Did you receive a Census related promotional product?

With baseball season starting in early April, make use of fantastic promotional products when entertaining your clients or prospects at a ballgame.

Misting Fans - Stay cool in the hot sun with this “cool” promotional product.

Caps and Visors - Shield yourself with a promotional baseball cap or visor.

Baseball Keychain Sunscreen - A unique and useful promotional product that protects your skin from the hot ballgame sun.

If any of you watched the Christmas day NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, you might have noticed angry Laker fans throwing foam hand promotional items on the court in response to the poor officiating and poor play of their home team.  We’ve often talked about the many uses of promotional products, but I think we will keep this one off the list : ) .

We’ve chronicled the recent law passed by President Obama to ban the use of tobacco company logos on promotional products.  Well, we also touched on the tobacco companies’ lawsuit to remove this particular element of the aforementioned ban.  Just recently, a Federal judge dealt the Tobacco companies another blow by saying their lawsuit was unwarranted.

The Tobacco companies are said to be considering their options in response to this latest ruling.  One more interesting note from this article was”Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., parent company of the nation’s largest tobacco maker, Philip Morris USA, supported the law and has not joined the industry lawsuit.“

With 2009 coming to a close, don’t forget to place your order for 2010 promotional calendars that are customized to your business.  View our selection of promotional calendars that can be personalized in a variety of ways.  Superior Promos provides you with free artwork services including unlimited revisions so your calendar is done the way you envision.  If you need help brainstorming, feel free to contact us for ideas as well.

October has long been recognized as breast cancer awareness month.  The pink ribbon is the ultimate symbol of this cause, but pink promotional products are also being used to mark this month and create further awareness.  Again, this reinforces the principle of how promotional products are just as influential for cause marketing as they are for brand marketing.  Even the NFL and its equipment sponsors are using pink to mark this special month. You’ll see players wearing pink gloves, cleats and even drinking out of pink water bottles.  PPAI.org provides a fantastic and informative piece on this very same subject.

Recently, Superior Promos aided the Miami Beach Coalition (MBC) in order to provide them with a fantastic presence at some of their sponsored events such as The Rally for Recovery.  In the past, we’ve discussed how promotional products can promote awareness for a cause, not just a selling a product. Our campaign for MBC  was geared for exactly that; promoting causes such as a drug free community.

The Miami Beach Coalition (MBC) is comprised of a broad range of professionals throughout Miami Beach and its neighboring communities. Through the programs the MBC has embraced like the TeenPlus Payback Program, Project Sticker Shock, Safe Homes/Safe Parties and the Parent Peer groups, the goals of the coalition are communicated.

We put together a wide variety of promotional products and materials for  MBC including table covers, promotional pens and pencils, promotional water bottles, promotional magnets, promotional tote bags, promotional t-shirts, promotional umbrellas, promotional keychains and much more.

2009 is turning into one of the biggest flu seasons in U.S. history made worse by the presence of the H1N1 flu known famously as “The Swine Flu.”  Even athletes like Lebron James and several of his Cleveland Cavalier teammates are battling the flu with the NBA season less than 2 weeks away.  Doctors are recommending flu shots more than ever as an added precaution against contracting a flu.  Along with flu shots, many healthcare professionals are recommending regular use of hand sanitizer if you’re out and about in a public setting. Many pharmacies have hand sanitizer located at the register for $1.

We often talk about the seasonal implications of a promotional product campaign.  Given the season and the current flu crisis, promotional hand sanitizer would make a fantastic giveaway and create further brand awareness and recognition for your company while giving your target audience something useful.

To get started on your own promotional hand sanitizer campaign, please contact us today.