Key Takeaways
• Recent promos from the Chicago White Sox, 7-Eleven and McDonald’s are generating buzz for their creativity and design.
• The most effective promotional products combine creativity, cultural relevance and a unique “wow” factor to make them memorable and shareable.
The internet age allows us to see branded merchandise from all over the world without having to leave our homes. Granted, it’s not as fun as going to an event and getting a fun freebie, but the trade-off is you get to see the boldest and buzziest promo around.
While most people would just keep scrolling while they’re unwinding after work (or during work – no judgment), those of us in promo take a little extra time when the algorithm presents us with a sweet merch drop. Here are some insanely cool promos that I spotted this week, and what distributors and suppliers can take away from each example for their own businesses.
1. Chicago White Sox Pope Hat
It takes the patience of a saint, or at least a pope, to put up with a franchise like the White Sox for too long. That’s the case with Pope Leo XIV – aka Chicago native Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected to the Catholic Church’s top role last year. To celebrate what is, at least on record, the first White Sox-supporting pope, the team has prepared an official giveaway of a White Sox-branded pope hat on August 11 at the ballpark. It’s a perfect balance of taking something from real life and pop culture, toeing the line between relevancy and irreverence, and ending up with something memorable that will bring fans to the ballpark.
2. 7-Eleven’s “Snacks & Supply Co.” Drop
7-Eleven has been creating branded merchandise for a while now that goes above and beyond what a gas station and convenience store should be doing. The dedicated “7Collection” elevates its branded merch with regular drops. The latest, titled “Snack & Supply Co.” puts a spin on the outdoorsy and “bespoke” apparel and “provisions” you’d see at a high-end store that sells apparel as well as things like very fancy pens, axes and flasks. Some of the items, like crewneck sweatshirts and caps, even put “Dallas, TX” on them to look even more like one of those cool local businesses and not, you know, a globally recognizable chain.
3. Nike SB Mini-Shoeboxes
Who doesn’t love a cute little miniature? Nocturnal, a skateboard shop in Philadelphia, just had an event to launch Nike SB’s new Air Force 1 skate shoes. For people who lined the block for the release, Nike also included fun boxes of branded dice, with the one side being the AF-1 logo, and it came housed in a purple shoebox matching the real packaging. It’s a cool example of recreating the product itself as a promo tie-in, and using print and promotional products together in literally a small package. Not every print/promo tie-in needs to have large signage, or even a large box.
4. The Archie
McDonald’s in Turkey has something called the “Pro Gamer Menu,” and one of the products is a handy device called the “Archie,” which is just a small version of the McDonald’s arches logo that fits on a video game controller. The point is that you can eat your food and the Archie pulls the joysticks to keep your character moving, lest you become “AFK” (away from keyboard) and you get booted out of your game. Once again, it’s not only an example of taking something and just making it smaller, but it’s using the design of the logo itself to perform a function. It’s a feat of engineering really. A combination of imagination and engineering. Imagineering. Has anyone used that before?
5. Sarbes
OK, this one isn’t a “favorite,” but it’s a twofold lesson. The first is that spell-check is important. Even in the age of AI, it’s good to have a human being look at a piece and say, “Well, yes, the correct letters are on that shirt design, but not in the right order.” Otherwise, you end up with a Buffalo Sabres fan on TV wearing a “Sarbes” hoodie. The second part of this lesson is that mistakes can create opportunities for brands to garner goodwill. The Sabres saw this guy and his misspelled shirt and gave him a correct one. If you wanted to, you could even use the mistake for a whole new line of merch, like we saw in Philadelphia after the mayor accidentally spelled “Eagles” wrong.
