The Promo Column


The considerate choice T


ypically, at these affairs, winners sashay out at the end of the evening with a goodie bag full of loot. In recent years, this has included bottles of champagne, expensive perfumes, and luxury chocolates.


This year saw the film industry trying to toe the environmental line with a slightly more hairshirt approach. As well as cutting down on single use plastics, as we all must, out went the lavish freebies, and in came more responsible ‘gifting wallets’. These, apparently, are made from recycled materials and include vouchers for experiences, presumably to cut down on the excess baggage bill of US winners heading home. It does send out a bit of a worrying message – for the merchandise industry – about the desirability of ‘stuff’.


Desirability of stuff


I was recently at an industry conference which was nothing like as glamorous as the BAFTAs. In recent years there has been a swag bag to collect at the end, with some quite nice items: books; pens and notebooks; umbrellas; confectionery, and so on, all in a rather pretty, reusable tote bag. This year’s offering had the tote bag, but the contents were less enticing – just some reports and marketing materials from the organiser. At another event the organiser had done away with freebies completely. Now, I’m not an avaricious person, so wasn’t too bothered, but it did make me wonder is we have perhaps reached peak stuff? For an industry based on providing giveaways, it’s worrying if they are increasingly seen as beyond the pale. The plus side is that this more considerate approach is becoming the norm – the event also collected the delegate lanyards afterwards, which was a nice touch. Really, who needs all these items? I already have more bags for life, waterbottles, free pens, and notebooks than I could use in several lifetimes. That’s not to say that any of us are immune to the lure of the freebie. While I was busy polishing my halo about forgoing all this loot, I noticed that another event at the same venue had stacks of cool hoodies for its attendees. I was instantly envious and the point of merchandise was reinforced. Of course, the thing we should do is find a happy compromise. More and more brands are


looking to make more


considerate use of the earth’s resources. At the recent Super Bowl, Budweiser, the official beer of the NFL,


teamed up with Ball Corporation to bring infinitely recyclable


aluminium cups to the Hard


Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.


Ball Corporation’s aluminium cups www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk Lifecycle of products


As brands become more interested in the lifecycle of products, they are playing closer attention to production processes. As well as the actual usage of raw materials, the effect of production on other areas is being put under the microscope, for instance, water


requirements. Sock


producer, Kingly, was recently


awarded the 2020


Promotional Gift Award for its upcycled socks in


compostable bags. The garments are made from upcycled yarn


Kingly’s compostable bag vs. a regular plastic bag that is free of hazardous substances.


Each kilogramme of cultivated cotton can use up to 20,000 litres of water, whereas upcycled socks use none. By using textile waste as a raw material resource, clothes are diverted from landfill and incineration, making the company less dependent on virgin materials and saving water, energy, CO2 emissions and toxic materials. Similarly, The Umbrella Company has introduced Water Save material to its brollies. This results in 60% less emissions; 70% less energy consumption; 98% less sludge production, and six litres less water used per umbrella.


Another company taking a conscious stance, is The Pen


Warehouse, which has introduced a range of paper pen sleeves to cut down on single-use plastics. The sleeves are available in three sizes to accommodate a single pen, three pens and five pens.


All pen sample requests will now be sent out using paper packaging instead of plastic wallets. Future developments in packaging will include instructions on how to dispose of the paper wallet in an environmentally friendly way. The paper sleeves will also be offered to customers as an add-on service when protection is required for printed pens, replacing traditional cellophane sleeves.


So, rather than ditching promotional products all together, maybe one approach is to be more considerate about how we use them. That way, everyone’s a winner.


March 2020 |53 |


There was further proof, if it were needed, of the direction of travel regarding sustainability at the festival of ‘wokeness’ that is the BAFTA Film Awards. Here Stuart Derrick, promotional products commentator, looks at sustainable products and more.


The lightweight cups will help eliminate more than 500,000 plastic cups annually from Hard Rock Stadium’s supply chain. During the Super Bowl, 50,000 of the 20-ounce cups were available in the clubs, suites and concourse areas of the stadium.


Infinitely recyclable and economically valuable, aluminium is the most sustainable beverage packaging material, and like aluminium cans, cups can be easily recycled. In fact, 75% of the aluminium ever produced is still in use today. In addition to its sustainability, the cup is lightweight, sturdy, cool to the touch and can be customised with logos and graphics.


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