Skip to main content

Tattoos?  Kazoos? Gluesticks?  Yep, we've had them all.  For today's Friday Behind the Scenes, I thought it would be fun to share our pantheon of weird swag.

This is an "Infopop Brain," possibly the weirdest swag we ever devised.  It was produced for a presentation I was giving for Springboard Silicon Valley in 2001, part of a Venture Capital forum.  Trust me, it made sense at the time...


brain


This is an Infopop mousepad.  I know, you youngsters are saying "what's a mousepad?"  These items were in high demand, and this is one of our last remaining samples.  Note the awesome logo, which was our first "officially designed" corporate logo.

mousepad


"Make your site sticky!" That mantra was all the rage back in 2001 when this gluestick was used at our trade show booth at Vir-Comm.  These are coveted collector's items now.

gluestick_rotated


The lightbulb stayed around, but boy did we get edgy!  The Infopop tattoo (as modeled by Lori), was us thinking outside the box for swag ideas.  I can't remember what we were using these for, but I'm pretty sure we've got a lot of them sitting around the office.

tattoo_applied

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this is a small lapel pin, like the ones I used to wear on my jean jacket in high school.  (Of course, mine was a Rick Springfield button.)  This button has the Groupee swirl logo on it---one of my favorite logos.  We still give these out when we do our Groupee video sessions.


groupee_pin


...and last but not least, the Groupee Backstage Live Kazoo!  At the time we created these, we were doing video interviews with all kinds of celebrities, and our ace interviewer had a keen interest in kazoos.  He has moved on in his career, and recently opened a Kazoo Museum on the East Coast.  Seriously!

kazoo


(Photo production coordinator: Lori Hope)

I hope you enjoyed our little tour through the weird and wonderful world of Social Strata swag history.  Have you ever received or given a strange piece of swag?  Do tell....

___________________________________________________________

I'd love to hear your thoughts here in the comments, or connect with me on Twitter.

Attachments

Images (6)
  • brain: Infopop Brains
  • groupee_pin: Groupee Button
  • kazoo: Groupee Kazoo
  • mousepad: Infopop Mousepad
  • tattoo_applied: Infopop Tattoo
  • gluestick_rotated: Infopop Gluestick

Add Comment

Comments (9)

Newest · Oldest · Popular

I cannot imagine having the job of coming up with these swags. Some of the ones I've seen posted here are cool. There was a group of movers that had a ball similar to the one posted on here. Maybe they were trying to say "it's a ball for us to move all your stuff!"

C
Steven, the lightbulb will always hold a soft spot in my heart too

SuBe, I remember the Christmas kazooing!  That was so fun to see.  Maybe we need a sequel this year...

LOM I think your weird swag wins the prize!  That's crazy.  The real question is...do you ever wear it?
Rosemary O'Neill
While they don't have your logo, my company hands out those brains occasionally during staff trainings.


I have a lapel pin in the form of an IUD - yep, the birth control device. That's probably my weirdest swag yet.
LittleOddMe
I think you guys come up with wonderful ideas...our grandchildren learned how to kazoo with your groupee kazoos, and we still have them!  And remember the video of the Bevis family Christmas kazoo carol...oh my...    I'll try to link to it (it is in the Kazoo link from my page)

http://www.hoo.do/fileS...5730654972943902.jpg

But...I'm wondering how could I get one of those brains, they look like great stress relievers.
SuBe
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×