The Promotional Item Throughout History

Promotional merchandise is known by many names, including promotional items, promotional products, promotional gifts, advertising gifts, swag, and schwag. Promotional items are used widely in marketing and promotional campaigns, as a way to raise interest in a particular product, event, or brand. There are a wide range of different items that have traditionally been associated with promotional merchandising, including pens, hats, key chains, bumper stickers, T shirts, calendars, mugs, and mouse pads. The humble promotional item (vim-flash.com) has also expanded into the realms of technology during recent years, with some companies giving away things like USB thumb drives, headphones, and USB gadgets as part of promotional campaigns. Promotional merchandise has a long a colourful history of use around the world, with the first evidence of items used for promotion dating back to 1789.

The first known promotional items were commemorative buttons which were given out during the election campaign of George Washington in 1789. This association with political figures and campaigns continues to this day, with many election campaigns still spending millions of dollars on the gifting of small promotional items. However, while there was the continued but occasional use of promotional gifts during the early 19th century, it was not until the early 20th century that an industry sprung up around the production and use of promotional items in the United States. A printer from Coshocton, Ohio by the name of Jasper Meeks is often attributed as the originator of the promotional gift industry, along with a competitor of Meeks who was also in the printing industry. The two men were giving away various items to promote their businesses, such as marbles, card cases, fans, calendars, and aprons.

The first trade association for the promotional item industry was developed in 1904, with the birth of the organisation now known as the Promotional Products Association International or PPAI. Promotional goods did not get picked up over the Atlantic until much later, with companies in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and throughout Europe getting more sophisticated with their promotional campaigns in the 20th century. There are now a number of companies all over the world who are involved in the production and distribution of promotional products, with thousands of businesses giving away small items as a way to build the awareness of their products and their brand.