Around the office you can find promotional products everywhere. Custom hand sanitizer to keep your desk tidy, obviously promotional pens for taking notes, custom sports bottles to stay hydrated, and the trusted and sometimes silly custom stress relievers.

Of all these products, I've never held one over the other. But today after an incident at the bank, I'd like to get my hands on some promotional stress balls. No worries- they're not for me- There's just a finicky bald man somewhere that could reeeeeeeeally use one.  

Marisa and I ventured to the bank to pick up dough for my trip to Maine this evening. As we entered the bank, I didn't exactly feel welcomed. The high ceilings and top button done bank clerks glaring didn't give me that, Welcome!" kind of feeling. Then again, it's just a bank, and I shouldn't expect to get goose bumps like I do every time I enter into a Chucky Cheese.  

We walked in and actually had to search for the deposit/withdrawal slips. Around the corner, we found them. And standing over the slips, around the corner, was a short man filing out his own paperwork. Marisa stood to the side of him and placed her hand on the pile of slips. She delicately reached for a pen and brought it towards the slip. As she did this I watched the man glare at us and shake his head. Marisa must've felt his strife because she looked up and him right before he said, "Uuh, excuse me," rudely and scooted further away from us. 

His disgust in us was evident though we were completely unsure of why. Marisa, quick to satisfy the grump man, asked, "Did you need this pen?" He looked down feverishly and continued writing with the pen he already had and barked, "No."

Like the mature women Marisa and I are, we both began to giggle. Maybe it was because we were nervous he may have a stun gun ready to shock away our innocence. More likely it was because his anger spouted from nothing...and that's just...funny.

Right? Funny? WRONG.

The man kept his eyes glued to his bank statement as he said matter-of-factly, "And it's not funny!"

I really had to control myself because I was either going to laugh hysterically or scream at the jerky man.

We stayed silent as Marisa filled out her slip and walked away relived to be away from the sour apple. As we stood on line I said to Marisa, "That guys needs a promotional stress reliever." 

Earlier this week there were two major announcements in the computer world. Both were very closely related to each other and most likely were announced BECAUSE of each other. Let me explain. What seems to have been the first announcement was the debut by Kingston, a major flash drive producer, that they would be rolling out soon a 128 GB flash drive.  That is a portable drive, that can fit in your pocket, that has more space than most computers on the retail market today. They say though it won't cheap and may retail for close to $600, almost as much as most new computers. On the heels of that announcement it was leaked that it seems when Microsoft releases Windows 7 the operating system will be availible to purchase on a flash drive. This would make upgrading netbooks that don't have a CD drive an option. Should all of this move forward as is being reported we would be seeing a huge breakthrough in custom flash drives. It is entirely possible one day soon we here at Motivators could be offering options in flash drives in 32 GB , 64 GB  and 128 GB! The possibilities are truely endless, a company could put an entire advertising campaign with hi-res photos and videos as well as relatable applications to really hammer home a branded message. This is definitly something to keep an eye on moving forward because the exciting future may not be so far away.

 

 

Today I had Chinese for lunch. While I ate, the lovely Marisa found it imperative to talk about shaved cats. I for one, am always a fan of having my lunch ruined with the image of a wrinkled, big eyed animal rubbing against my legs. Purrrrrrrr. So it's most simply said Marisa, that this one's for you.

Gillette, much like I, is a fan of these horrendous looking creatures (even an aye-aye is cuter than that.) And so for one of their advertisements they placed the bottle of shaving cream next to the cat, with the slogan, "The Best a Cat Can Get." I'm just imagining a shaved cat with the scent of that manly "I don't need collogue I have after shave ; )" Gillette. Yummily disgusting.

While Motivators does have an awesome category of custom personal accessories like promotional bath and body items, there is no shaving gel. However the photo of that beautiful shaved cat may be able to make its way onto a custom sports bottle or maybe even Marisa's very own custom tote bag. Oh yes, just you wait until next Christmas. Have I got a gift idea for you. 

So Over the weekend my friends and I went to go watch the Transformers Movie. By the way it was a great movie. As I buy some popcorn and drink, I get this custom imprinted stadium cup with Optimus Prime on it.  So after I was walking along the board walk in Atlantic City, there was a vendor selling various Transformer promotional items. He had some custom key chains, custom t-shirts, and custom water bottles.  My friend who is a huge Transformers fan ended up purchasing the Transformers video game the very next day. As you can see, top selling movies have a huge affect on the promotional products industry. 

 

 

   

It seems that our previous blogs about the rain slowly killing us have had some affect on the weather. It hasn't been raining aaaaaaas often. But no worries, showers are expected all weekend! However, I don't really buy that weather map, forecast stuff. I just go with the flow. That's the kind of attitude Sophie Frost of Essex, U.K. had when she spent an afternoon in the park with her boyfriend last week...during a thunderstorm. They had no promotional umbrellas.

The 14 year old couple sought refuge under a tree and waited out the storm. But a lightning bolt stuck that very tree and searched for its fastest way down into the Earth. It just so happened that the iPod headphones hanging around Sophie's neck provided the best trip to the ground. The bolt traveled down her body through the headphones and left her boyfriend squinting to see. He managed to carry her out of the park and to a main road where they found a ride to the hospital. There, the doctors told Sophie's family that the iPod saved her life. Instead of traveling through her body and hitting vital organs, the bolt went through the metal wire headphones. Though she was burned on the chest and stomach, she had no life threatening injuries.

I don't recommend entering a park with promotional electronics during a thunderstorm, ever. But this girl got very lucky. When I head out to lunch breaks at the nearby Cantiague park (Where three people were struck by lightning last summer) I just bring along a custom sports bottle and some good friends for a wonderful lunch break. But thank you Apple, your headphones saving little Sophie made for a delightful tale.

So if you haven't heard yet Japan has built themselves a full sized replica Gundam which is based on a Japanese anime series featuring giant robots also known as mecha created by Sunrise studios. With the success of building this 59ft tall Gundam Japan has decided to build a second robot, Gigantor. According to Gizmodo says Gigantor will be 60 feet tall and weighing in at 50 tons shall be located in Kobe's Wakamatsu Park. Now I wonder if I was to build a life size robot out of imprinted aluminum sport bottles along with some recycled eco-friendly promos would I stand a chance in a battle hmmm…I think I'm going to need a bigger work shop.

 

 

 

I cannot believe how fast this summer is going by. Here in Long Island, we have not really witnessed true summer weather yet, but it is already the end of June. Pretty soon we will be putting away our sunglasses and beach balls, and whipping out our ice scrapers and hand warmers. It is so amazing how time goes by so quickly. This Saturday is 4th of July weekend, and before you know it, it will be Labor Day weekend and the summer will be over and the holiday shopping season will start. It is actual the perfect time to take care of all those holiday gifts now so you are not running around all crazed when the holidays are here. My holiday preparation suggestion for this week would have to be to order your 2010 promotional calendars now while they are in stock, on sale, and you have plenty of time.

This weekend was the CD Release performance and party for my brother's band, Easy Anthems. They started off the night at a sweet record shop in Huntington. As they played and I danced to their wonderful anthems, I couldn't help but notice all of the promotional items surrounding me. My favorite thing about the promotional goods I was looking at was that they were all pre-CD age. A huge poster of Paul McCartney in flashy 80's clothing was stuck to the far wall. Above me was a promotional sign that read, 10 cent hair cuts. And various 60's, 70's and 80's band's pins custom stickers we stuck everywhere.
   

After the first set, the band grabbed their equipment and trekked out of the shop and over to a bar down the block for another show. Luckily, and by some crazy force of goodness, it wasn't raining. Down at the bar, family, friends and assorted fans awaited the second set of the night. Of course the bar was branded left and right with promotional tees and glassware--not to mention all the custom sports items I saw being worn by fans to the Subway Series that was playing above the make-shift stage. 

The tunes began again and the dancing and smiles ensued. After the show was over everyone lollygagged around the bar and I was delighted by something the drummer said. "I want to get Easy Anthems matchbooks." The band is very old school and inspired by the great oldies, which makes a pre-$1 lighter at 7-11 matchbook even more attractive. The catch is that Motivators matchbooks don't actually include matchbooks. They have a cool selection of match books that open up to either mini emeryboards or promotional match book fishing hooks. It's cool to know that Motivators caters to everyone. A hip band can look to us for great promotional gear  while a big company can trust that we'll get them their order of custom sports bottles in time for the company picnic. And it's pretty clear that Motivators makes me look at the world as one big promotional product.  

I was watching an episode of Attack of The Show the other day where they showed an old commercial for Wilkins Coffee, a Washington, D.C. based coffee company.  Apparently, in the late 50's, Jim Henson was approached by the coffee company to make some commercials, but they only had about 8 seconds each spot.  These commercials featured lovable Wilkins characters who apparently enjoyed Wilkins Coffee so much that they equipped themselves with a very Wile E Coyote type arsenals to destroy anyone who dare not like the coffee.  The characters who didn't like the coffee were known as Wontkins.  What I find most interesting is that, as successful as these commercials were, they would never be allowed to air today due to the focus on killing or otherwise destroying characters whenever they said they didn't want or didn't like Wilkins Coffee.

 

These days, perhaps a good Coffee Cup Stress Reliever or Soft Touch Travel Mug, or a selection of other Advertising Mugs from Motivators would best suit the advertising and promotional aspects of a coffee company.

 

The other Friday I went out with Kristen (Prep dept supervisor) and Marisa (our newest sales member) after work. We were chatting about our week when two young ladies in branded beer tank tops came up to us and offered us bottle opener keychains with the Michelob logo on them. Of course the first thing we thought about was whether or not Motivators printed these. Secondly we thought of how wonderful this giveaway was for the summer! Who doesn't need an extra bottle opener? Needless to say it is hanging on my keychain.