The cool thing about gifts is that you can receive them. For all my soapbox condemnations of the corrosive effects (albeit perhaps unintended) that advertising can have upon the community which it unfurls its ravenous hunger without prejudice, I have to say that I am really sort of into promotional advertising gifts. For a couple reasons.

First off, I like getting things without cost much better than I do when I need to give money for them. For example, it was just last year that I bought three boxes of pens. Now, for me, I'm a big fan of pens, in fact my slight OCD makes me feel a little uncomfortable when I don't have a pen on me. So, it's important that I have an ample supply at my house. I can't remember exactly, but I feel like I probably spent around twelve dollars for the three boxs.

I'm not saying that I could take those twelve dollars, throw them on my bed, roll around on them al fresco and make a night of it; but, I am saying that I could appreciate the cash and maybe have a nice little lunch. So, if I didn't have to spend the money, that'd be optimal. But, then I'm left penless, which is far from optimal. However, these two desires of mine need not be mutually exclusive.

Each and every day there are probably tens of tens of places around town handing out pens as promotional advertising gifts. Some from the doctor, some from the bursar's office at my university, others from a temporary stand getting people to register for credit cards and I'm starting to sit on a reasonable collection of pens. They're out there. I just need to go get them. And to do that, I need only strap myself with generous amounts of tenacity and the will to collect.

The other reason that I like promotional advertising gifts is, unusually, almost the exact opposite of the first. It starts out with the belief that everyone should do one good deed (at the very least) each day. One good deed that I see as important is to maintain the cleanliness of our fair city (or whichever one you find yourself in). One way to keep a city free from environmental degradation is to throw away trash. So, one way that I know that I can always satisfy my daily good deed is to make sure garbage gets into a garbage can. Therefore, I also like promotional advertising gifts, because I can take them right out of the hands of the friendly distributor and walk my poster, magnate, paper visor or whatever and put it right into the trash. Everyone wins.

It will be clear to you if you talk to me for just a quick little chit-chat that I have some reservations about advertising in general. But between these two great aspects of promotional advertising gifts, it becomes clear to me that truly every cloud has a silver lining.


readbud