This morning, as I was sitting at my desk writing a blog for Alot More Than Just Promos, our sushi-loving, prep team supervisor Kristen bounded into the office that I currently reside in. "Tell me you were just listening to Z100!" she demanded. I could not. I had been at my desk since 8:30, so whatever happened after the "Greg T Brings in a Rat" bit fell on deaf ears. I informed her of this and she squealed "Zack Morris was just on!!!" For anyone that doesn't know who Zack Morris is, you are clearly not of the "Saved by the Bell" era.  This popular teen sitcom revoled around a group of students at Bayside High and ran on NBC's Saturday morning line-up (followed by an extremely underrated show, California Dreams which I LOVED! Long live Sly Winkle...BA BOOM!). SBTB was watched by millions around the country and when the series finally had to let the gang graduate, SBTB: The College Years was created. The show's popularity was insane for a saturday morning sitcom and anyone who was a true fan knows that Zack Morris is actually played by Mark Paul Gosselaar. He's had some great roles including a phenomenal guest appearance on Law and Order SVU, a 10 episode arc on Commander-In-Chief, and he played Det. John Clark Jr. on NYPD Blue. But to the true fans, it was not Mark Paul Gosselaar, it was Zack Morris. Just like Mario Lopez didn't compete on Dancing with the Stars, it was Slater. (Sidenote: everyone knew he could dance because we've all seen the Dancing to Max episode with Casey Kasem!) And Kelly Kapowski was on 90210 and promotional t-shirts were made to Save Screech's House.

So it came as no suprise to me when KG referred to Mark Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris and I knew exactly who she was talking about. He's on the new TNT drama Raising the Bar which premieres on Monday, so I wasn't surprised that he was promoting it. It's been given some heavy rotation in commercials, and intern Jenn and I even saw one before The Dark Knight. But much thanks to Jen Brigandi for sending this my way.

TNT is paying tolls for drivers on 4 major highways across the US this labor day weekend. Drivers can enjoy a "toll-free" ride in the following locations:

Friday, Aug. 29

Atlanta: 4-6 p.m. (ET) on Georgia 400

Monday, Sept. 1

Orlando: 4-6 p.m. (ET) on the Orlando-Orange County Expressway - State Road 528 Mainline Plaza (westbound)

Philadelphia: 3-5 p.m. (ET) on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - Mid-County Interchange

Chicago: 3-5 p.m. (CT) on the Indiana Toll Road - Westpoint Interchange at mile post 1

Rather than shelling out for some cool promotional products that would be lasting reminders of the new series, they're instead shelling out some major bucks to help get people where they want to go. But the question remains, how many people will remember it? Sure it's a nice costly gesture on TNT's behalf, but it'd be way cooler if you had to stop at the toll booth anyway to pick up some cool promotional bag or even a promotional pen. Anything would have worked, except may promotional mirrors. Because after seeing the commercials and the screencaps, all female SBTB fans in this office have had the same reaction. Intern Jenn and I had it at the Dark Knight. KG, Sarah E and Carolina had it this morning. Jen B had it when she sent me this news. It all ties back to one simple question:

The hair...really Zack Morris? Come on!

The Democratic Convention is this week and as I have tuned in I have tried to enumerate all of the different promotional products  directly related to the convention and the campaign season.  It is not hard to see the enthusiasm of the people attending the convention and just about everywhere your television allows you to look we can see the numerous placards and signs expressing "Change We Can Believe In".  Just think on how many times you have seen or heard that slogan in the last year!  But, the truth is that many of us at times do like to, as the saying goes, "wear our emotions on our sleeves".  If it is something we truly believe in then we must let it be known and if we can not shout it out we will come up with all kinds of other ways of getting our message across.  Anyway, I have seen some very wonderfully expressive and fun images of promotional political products from the convention which exhibit the passion that the people have for their favorite presidential candidate.  I have provided just a few photos for your viewing pleasure.  

First the marketing team behind the hit Showtime series Dexter reached out to the media by providing them with promotional Saran Wrap. It appears that they're back on the scene and apparently, it's extremely important to look your best after you've brutally slaughtered someone. Case in point, this promotional toiletry case imprinted with the classic Dexter blood-like logo. It includes blood red promotional lip balm, a promotional mirror and promotional anti-bacterial spray. How thoughtful of those marketing execs to realize that in addition to looking your best after the slaughter, you should be as clean as possible. Safety First! Thanks to eBay for this awesome find. :)

I used to think it was disgusting. And then I thought I would give it a chance, so I tried a california roll because how bad could crabmeat, avacado and cucumber be? It wasn't too bad, but I wasn't in love with it. Knowing that sushi is somewhat healthy for me, I decided to once again give it a go. And now months later, I'm probably a bigger fan of sushi than Kristen, our prep supervisor who has claimed that she could easily eat sushi every day of her life. Luckily, I share an office with two sushi fans who have pretty much become addicts as well. It probably started when Sarah, Carolina, Jenn and Lauren (one of our other fabulous interns) decided to have an IT ladies night out. We ate some delicious sushi at a restaurant in the city and it was fun. And since then we've probably had sushi multiple times per week. It's not entirely our fault. There's a fabulous half price sushi place (thank you Kristen) nearby and we're all about it. I mean hello, $2.50 for a california roll? $2.75 for spicy tuna? How can you really say no? The answer is...you can't. I thought that maybe I'd blog and ask for some promotional food containers or some other sort of promotional products that might help us fend off the mercury poisioning that we'll probably develop if we keep up this obsession, but there's really nothing that can be done. I have a promotional Piccolo Cooler Tote and it's adorable. Carolina even had a hot pocket in the freezer on Thursday but it didn't matter. We just can't quell our love of sushi. Luckily, I've found the promotional t-shirts that we all need...

I would not consider myself very squeemish when it comes to bugs. I for the most part let them be. The only bug I cannot deal with however is the gnat/fly. They drive me crazy. I find that they dart for me and just get in the way. Therefore I LOVE the Recycled 16 Inch Flyswatter. 

After working here for 2 years, I've developed this insane fixation with promotional products. I've blogged about this several times before, but regardless it's not going away. It's not getting any worse, but it's still there. And sometimes my friends really make fun of me for it and I don't care. But today's blog has nothing to do with my observance of promotional products out in the world that extends far beyond the walls of my delightful little cubicle. You see, I've sort of become the Obi Wan Kenobi of loving promotional products, if you will.

I received an email late last evening from Jenn, one of our summer interns with whom I worked closely. And if she weren't back at school going off to RA training, she would have probably blogged about this herself, but right about now she's probably doing trust falls or something. It was a general catch-up email, but there was one thing that I specifically took note of:

I just began RA training and everything's just wonderful. We had to interview people we didn't know with some given questions...one was "What makes you happy?" My partner answered me, "Free stuff...like you know when you go to a meeting and they give you something...like lanyard or a pen or..." And I inturrupted " PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS MAKE YOU HAPPY!!!" I proceeded to take the stylin' Motivators glasses off of my head and show him my free findings. He was very excited. Oh Promotional Products!

I've created a monster. But not really, since the bottom line is this: promotional products were, are, and will forever continue to be awesome. And if I got that Obi Wan Kenobi thing messed up, it's not my fault. I pride myself on being the only IT Dept. member who has never seen Star Wars. :) You can correct the other Sarah since I asked her.

And just to prove my point about promotional products being everywhere...note this guy's promotional mug.

I have been watching the olympics like a crazed person for past couple of weeks, My wife thinks I am a lunatic.  I am watching everything from gymnastics to badminton and the US teams seem to be doing very well and seem to be crushing the other countries.  Swimming was no contest and if you have seen any of the womens beach volleyball you know what I am talking about.  So let's celebrate the great teams we have and support the local guy as well when looking for your next promotional product.  We have many " MADE IN THE USA " products that would be perfect for any event.

I was watching television during my lunch break and the news came via E.S.P.N. that football hall of famer Gene Upshaw had passed away this morning due to pancreatic cancer.  The odd part of the story to me was that he was diagnosed with the illness just this past Sunday!  So, it was exactly four days from which he was diagnosed to his passing.  Some time ago, I did a blog on prostate cancer in which I talked about the need for regular screening and medical evaluations.  Though pancreatic cancer is often detected in its late stages it is also clear that, among men especially, that we do not get routine examinations as we should.  We guys tend to ignore the different signs our bodies give us; but, it is important that we not ignore those signs when they are given for it can sometimes be the difference between life and death.  I understand that in today's world a man has plenty on his mind and he has no time for being sick! (lol)  However, the truth is we are all, man and woman alike, susceptible to sickness and illness.  We must begin to start taking better care of ourselves or the consequences will mean dying and leaving behind our friends and family way too soon.  

Doctor Jimmy Bear Stress Reliever

Entertainment Weekly's fall movie preview is out and while I'm not the biggest movie buff, I still like to keep an eye out for the up and coming hot trends. And as I was perusing through the site, I happened upon a movie called Burn After Reading. Apparently it's by the Coen Brothers, best know for that little movie called No Country For Old Men. According to the review of the film, it's the polar opposite of No Country for Old Men and it's a "goofball crime caper." Fair enough, but I couldn't help my reaction of shock and awe when I saw this picture.

Once you can focus on something other than Brad Pitt's ridiculous dye job, you might notice something that looks a little familiar. Well, at least all the Motivators will. It's item 22846, the PolyClean 24oz. Auto Bottle. I'd say that Brad's character looks like he's enjoying it, but, you can all see for yourselves that he's completely confused. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I do love a good caption contest. So here's my take on the situation.