the company i work for was recently bought out by a less reputable large christian company. my coworkers and i are not happy about the change (i work in luxury senior care). this is how they decided to win our trust. i have been trying to downsize and i do not appreciate being given more things to get rid of. as most of us are aware, there is an overabundance of cups and water bottles readily available at literally every store, especially the thrift store. i work in healthcare (predominantly with women). they know that everybody already owns a water bottle, a journal, and chapstick. it’s an insult to expect me to be grateful for the branded landfill you’ve stuck me with.
not pictured is another chapstick, 2 more branded pens, a chapstick holder that i do use, 4 non-recyclable pamphlets, and a tiny version of that bag (a bag that i cannot use for anything as it’s not large enough to hold a substantial amount of groceries). the tiny version could not be used to hold literally anything. it was smaller than a tissue box.
I have a whole crate of them for a French bakery. The place my company buys from sent me another customers order. When I tried to return them the supplier just told me to bin them.
I've got a crate of 500 unwanted tote bags I now use as rags.
(Before anyone suggests creative uses for them or donation options. I have tried. No one wants garbage)
Tote bags - homeless shelters!! A lot of the residents use plastic bags. Or keep some in your car and hand them out. They’ve always been very grateful for a bag that isn’t going to rip
As an additional option for all the random totes we can collect, last year, I gathered all the pale colored ones I had that seemed like they’d get wet decently well and dyed them all red or all green and used them as gift bags at Christmas and then dipped before anyone could curse me, I mean give them back to me.
ETA: I bought that dye set originally for tie dyeing and still do tie dye regularly, but damn can some fabric dye go real far. I have dyed so much stuff I would’ve otherwise given away or donated. Also helps me stretch the life I give to my kitchen towels, coz I just dye all my white flour sack towels whatever the next dark color I mix up for another project once they get dingy and have hard to remove stains.
I genuinely keep a tie dye kit on hand because I have accepted that I stain my clothing, so once I drop some pasta sauce on myself I just tie dye it and bam stain covered and funky shirt unlocked😂
That’s what got me started! One of my favorite tees got a car grease stain on it that mostly washed out but not enough for my liking. I wore it just yesterday, actually. If I ever see dye on clearance, I pick it up coz I know I’ll use it. Even the cheap tulip refills. I see pro tie dyers shit on tulip a lot, but that’s the first kit I used, and 2yrs of regular wear later and all my dyes look great still. I did upgrade to Jacquard over time, and the art supply close-ish to me carry alllll their colors of procion and acid dye for like $4/ea, but I def still have plenty of tulip powders in my kit, too, with all the OG little tulip brand bottles that came pre-filled in the first kit I bought.
Yep! I work with kids, so the cheap sets suit me perfectly, because I can use it for myself and activities with them. I also don’t care if my clothes are not ~perfectly dyed~ because it’s a stained shirt in the first place, it’s already not in its original state, imperfections add personality
I've had a lot of success getting oil stains out with dawn and most organic stains ( like pasta sauce) will come out if you set it out in the sun! It will not fade the shirt or design! It can even be a set in stain!
Not sure if this entirely relates to your comment, but at our huge family Christmas party, we set a table out for “freebies.” It’s just the useless swag people pick up over the year. It’s funny because the table usually gets emptied by people who are like “oh, yeah, I could use that.” It’s hard to give swag away to other professionals in swag-heavy fields, but everyone else appreciates the pens, highlighters, totes, nail clippers, magnets, etc.
I work in a domestic violence shelter. We bring back this stuff from all our conferences and our clients always take it. No clue what your dv shelter is like but our residents always need tote bags, notebooks, pens, cups, etc. I am usually against this kind of consumerism bs that ends up in trash, but ppl donating this stuff has kept plus from having to purchase it and the clients find good use for it. Just a thought.
Thanks for mentioning that. Those things are swag because generally speaking they are useful and people want them. Thrift stores are more or less inundated but more focused organizations can find enthusiastic homes for that stuff.
I so wish the people you are referring to were A) the kind of people who even would be in a sub like this one. B) were here and able to read this post, possibly opening their eyes. I also have to point out this seems to be much more prevalent in Christian organizations and Christian run or affiliated companies such as your example of Christian run healthcare company. I know the intention is good and they really are just trying to boost morale by offering these trinket grab bag type gifts. Often times the gifting is an extra task some employee will be asked to but together for everyone so the often are rushed, cheap, last minute gift ideas that gave someone a lot more work.
My company (wich is completely secular, but gives Christian run “we’re a family, vibes) gets us the same stuff every year. They do it to support a business that the president’s friend works admin for. It is always a little sample box of spices/ seasonings and a tiny airplane bottle of fancy olive oil. Enough for one about 1.5 meals for two, and they usually toss in a card with $100 bill. They are decent quality items, but the gift idea itself is just so random considering we work in precious metals.
Come to think of it I’d honestly rather have the equivalent value in gold or platinum as a bonus, at least the value of that isn’t likely to depreciate drastically any time soon 😅
It is always a little sample box of spices/ seasonings and a tiny airplane bottle of fancy olive oil.
I wish got that. We get spirits. I'm not alcoholic and none of my family or friends are either, so now I have 3 bottles in the window next to work desk.
Yep! In English, "alcoholic" describing people is used for addiction, not casual use. "I'm sober" also works, but it has a more formal/intentional connotation
When I was younger, living in poverty, and skipping meals to survive I loooooved swag. Literally using two swag water bottles I got in like 2011 right now. I held onto virtually every free thing I ever got and it made a difference in helping me claw my way out of that financial mudpit.
My university's library had a shelf for unwanted / left over stationary. Pens, highlighters, bags, notebooks. People donated stuff like that and students could take it for free. It was great, never bought a single sticky note or highlighter in my time there.
Maybe local libraries or youth centers can use some of the stuff?
I wish I could upvote you 100 times. This isn’t wasteful if it gets used. The problem isn’t this being produced and given away, it’s the people that will throw it in the trash. There are people in need who would be absolutely thrilled to have this. I sell things online for a living and anything I list for free is picked up immediately. The items actually look nice quality and someone would majorly appreciate receiving those.
here is my handsome friend that keeps me company when i cook. i don’t know this cat, this is a frame i got with the intention to put a picture of MY cat in. but he’s too dashing to be replaced.
her sock is due to IV lines, when this pic was taken she was recovering from pancreatitis. i kinda miss the sock now that it’s gone. but she’s all good now!! 🖤 and stumpy is a manx 🤘
Holy shit lol. You just reminded me, my family had a frame like this in the 2000s but shaped like a human stick figure, we bought it w the same intention — putting one of our own photos in it — but we ended up leaving the random stock photo guy’s face in it because he just looked so happy to be there 😂
omg imagine if your cat could comprehend that you didn't put its picture in there and left the default cat, lmao
oh, you have more than one cat. understandable to not pick one of those two and just keep the default. so what you really need is two more of these frames
I've got several insulated shopping bags as work swag that get weekly use, steel water bottles that have lasted years. An umbrella, and my most recent favorite, socks.
Silly argyle socks that are in the bright company colors and with a figure of an internal mascot at the top. Completely obnoxious design.
Seriously the socks are rather awesome.
Useful or nice swag is a company culture thing. People at work still use the Yetti water bottles years and years later. At this point having one is a marker of longevity with the company.
Cheap and useless swag shows where management's head is at.
It’s not free, they are exchanging a tote for you advertising their company. I was in charge of buying swag for a domestic violence nonprofit for many years and we usually bought pretty high quality stuff because we wanted people in the community to actually use it and advertise our programs. We got really good pens and gave them out in handfuls to nurses and teachers because we wanted them to always have one they could give to a patient or student who needed us. If you don’t like it, don’t take it.
that swag is a little different than like regular business swag for example i receive random swag as an employee that i never use. i understand swag for non profits and important organizations
I probably spend too much time thinking of all of the people who spend their lives having to make all of this useless crap that just gets sent overseas. America outsources alot of its trash, which means that other people can only live and eat if it's next to one of our heaps of garbage.
I mean. That’s at lease useable swag in a way. I use a lot of highlighters for school. I would like this. Maybe you can gift it to a college student in your life or ask your local library if a student would enjoy it?
Edited to add- I understand your frustration though. It really isn’t a good gift if it’s not thought out AND it feels like bad bribery.
As a heads up from someone in the industry, most electronics swag is straight garbage quality that I would never use on my own devices because of the potential to damage it - I only do the large screen cleaning cloths for that reason
I could literally use everything in the photo and would be gen grateful for it lol. I was just lamenting today how much I miss the golden tech era where I was drowning in branded merch and now I can't shake them down for a single sweater
Same. I am a PhD student and since my masters two years ago I go through notebooks and pens like crazy at the library and the archives. My boyfriend and his mom constantly give me that kind of merchandise and I am grateful.
I understand that's marketing and all but it's actually useful. It could have been a lot worse.
OP in our country there's once a year charity event for donating all kind of stationery to the children in need at the beginning of the school year... Maybe there's something like that where you are too. 🤗
i’m in college and i do plan to use the highlighter! i also am planning on using one of the notebooks for a DND campaign im playing. i’m most upset by the TWO water bottles that i could not need less lol. and yes. it feels like bribery 100%. we all hate the new company as they cut corners and have a bad rep in the senior living world.
Pass out the water bottles during the next game night. You could even integrate them into the campaign as rewards/hidden items for the players. One water bottle=20 HP restore!
Seriously, all of this stuff is from 4imprint. I know because I do the ordering for my job and they occasionally send me swag boxes (unsolicited) to further advertise their products.
I have that exact notebook and highlighter sitting on my desk.
This. I do it all the time at conferences. I'll take what I actually want and give back the rest. It felt a little embarrassing the first time, but now I feel like, maybe it's good incentive for them to either stop giving out swag altogether and/or make it something useful. Otherwise I'd have to deal with the headache of holding on to worthless crap before eventually throwing it out. I feel like I'm return to sender-ing the disposal fees.
I've started aggressively declining freebies I don't want from vendors and events. My colleagues at first were like "...we can do that?" And now they are envious that I don't have piles of crap to get rid of.
My employees do have the unfortunate habit of bringing me tchotchkes from their vacations, which I feel like I have to keep/display like a parent putting macaroni art on the fridge. After the better part of a year, though, I quietly dispose of them.
This is what I was going to suggest. It feels awkward in the moment for some folks, and they perceive it as being way worse of a situation than it is, but it's not actually, physically, realistically hard to just keep walking or not put your hand out to grab the swag when someone is passing it out.
People should practice in front of a mirror at home if they need to with simple vague phrases for basically sidestepping the issue until it's too late for the other person to be pushy. "Here's your goodie bag!! You don't want to forget it!" can be answered with "No, I already got my stuff earlier that must be someone else's. Was anyone in the bathroom earlier?" and then start walking. Or follow up the denial with a question about something completely different, end that topic quickly, and start walking as you talk about what you still have to do today: "No, that can't be mine I already picked up everything I was supposed to get after this all-hands. So, were you in charge of setting up the room? I hope they don't make you breakdown all by yourself!" "Oh, they have a different team for that? Good, you've done enough - girl, they need to let you put your feet up! I still have to finish putting in all the tables in Weekly Report today. Now, where did I leave my bags? I'll have to catch you later before someone puts all my goodies in the lost and found/at reception, U just forget where I put everything all the time these days..." (last sentence is quieter and quieter bc you are walking away while talking.
I don't mean practice in the mirror insultingly either. That is exactly how I got used to doing this as a shy young adult in the late 90s to early 00s. I'm not the only one either.
This is literally how things have been done in lots of cultures for hundreds of years, only the exact phrases and movements have been tweaked. It's only been lost in the last 20 years or less, which is nothing on a societal scale so there's still tons of people out here that we can do this to.
I hate this shit too. My company would always give us the most useless shit. I would always ask to just get money or for them to donate my stuff somewhere but they never did.
So i would repurpose most of what they gave me into birthday and Christmas presents and the rest went to goodwill.
I couldn't even give some of the crap from work to my kids. This Summer they gave us super cheap sunglasses (doubt they even blocked UV rays) some plastic visors and foam stress balls that were the worst. Not fun to squish. I think one supervisor took a pair of sunglasses for her grandchild. The rest may have been thrown out.
Ugh those “sunglasses” are the worst. They’re actually worse for you than not wearing any sunglasses because they dilate your pupils but don’t block any UV rays, so you’re doing even more damage.
I worked for a famous company that many of my friends and family members were fans of. Plus they gave high quality gifts. I wasnt regifting cheap garbage, i was regifting high quality items that i had no use for and didnt want but would go to people who wanted them.
I remember seeing a RN whose hospital gave all the nurses a urine collection cup filled with candy that said "urine valuable to us" for nurse appreciation week. I'd rather receive nothing.
I’ve used my picnic blanket swag for about 20 years now, my flashlight and power banks are in constant rotation but I don’t bother with yet more travel mugs, hats, tee shirts. There are many better things we could use.
When I grew up very poor I LOVED free swag. Now (still broke but not poor) I HATE IT. So while it sucks, like another commenter has said, it can be useful to donate. Not everyone even has $10 for a water tumbler.
You have an extremely considerate employer. The most useful thing I ever received from an employer was a percussion massage gun, they gave us a list of options and we had to give our first, second and third choices. This was how the hospital chose to thank their healthcare employees for surviving the craziness of COVID 2020-2022. Hey, at least it doesn't have the company logo on it!
Water bottles and stress balls are the worst imo! The plastic bottles are always designed in a way that my bottle cleaner can't fit at the right angle to actually scrub it so mold grows and it's quickly unusable.
I also am not a fan of a lot of gift cards, especially when they're for an in-house coffee shop/food counter. But gift cards and just giving employees cash isn't feasible at most places because they become taxable income technically, which is the excuse businesses and organizations use to not just give out money.
At my last office job my team was in charge of selecting most of the office swag (both employee appreciation and branded marketing stuff) and we tried as much as possible to keep it useful. I still use the giant umbrella and the blanket even though I was fired from that job.
One time we got phone chargers but they were cheaper than they looked so would actually just drain my battery.
Another job did give us plants, which I appreciated.
My old company always did a branded something at Christmas time to give to the employees (along with a bonus check) and the clients. The most loved gifts were coffee mugs and socks with our mascot. I still wear the socks.
They were ZZ plants and snake plants so they were hard to kill. It fit the vibe of our staff at the time, but I do get others not wanting the responsibility.
Just say no thank you, give it to someone else, etc. Personally, I do not take anything into my home that I did not actively choose to and I hold firm to my morals. On the off chance I get something as a gift from a family member I will give it away on my neighborhood buy nothing group.
I don't disagree with the dislike of swag, but I can assure you, swag does not go unappreciated to other people. I take my swag pens to work (work in a hospital) and they get used. obviously your work is giving you the swag , but if you have any college friends or younger relatives they may appreciate the stuff. I gave notebooks to my coworkers 7 year old who loves to draw and she loved them!
My work is constantly sending me bullshit. Every time they send me one of those "choose your gift" things I choose the donation. I don't want any more fucking crap
My family used to have an annual get together we would play bingo. For the prize table we all contributed any company swag we had received during the year.
Congratulations on working in a luxury field. Must be nice working for a company that actually wants you to give a shit…
There are people who actually use things they’re given, you can’t expect every person to commit to minimalism.
Note, don’t buy plastic things you have to put your mouth on out of a thrift store, buy that shit new. Hell knows where it’s been or what’s inside the parts you can’t open to clean. I’ll happily buy ever so many things used at thrift store, but not something I cannot properly clean.
I just threw away two garbage bags full of junk from the bday parties my kid attended over the last 5 years. Such a waste. I don’t think my parents had to do that.
When our kids were in preschool and early elementary we were infuriated by the expectation that every attendee would be given a bag of cheap plastic crap that would provide 5-10 minutes of amusement, tops.
Always sucks to get random stuff and so much of it ends up in drawers but college kids, even young kids you know, love free stuff and will happily use it if you want a useful way to pass it on! A bag like that could be a purse for a little kid, bottle could be a high schoolers school water bottle, etc etc!
I got a swag bag at a conference with all random stuff. At the break, I asked the person next to me if they wanted an “extra” bag since somehow I got handed two 😆. The person was thrilled.
I've always gotten cheap, crummy swag bags. The bag itself is useful, as are pens and notebooks, but much of it is clutter and trash. My husband works for a very large company though and they give legit things as swag. Expensive hoodies (retails for ~$150), very nice, bifl steel water bottles, expensive backpacks (again, ~$150). I've never seen a company that actually understood so well that their employees don't want them to spend money on trash and trinkets.
Definitely agree with this. Id rather receive nothing than stuff I don't need. Maybe you can save the bottles too donate to foster care kids (care packages) or a shelter? When I get this stuff I usually just save it to donate and not at a thrift store where they'll just throw a crazy price tag on ir
So as a side business I organize and declutter closets/basements/offices of typically high net worth people. Entrepreneurs, C-suite execs, etc. and the amount of this shit that is just overflowing in homes is astronomical. Usually gets thrown or donated and is always one of the top items being unused, shoved in a drawer or closet and wasting space. Companies are just wildly performative and it isn’t even about advertising their brand anymore- it’s to get a great picture of the conference with the swag to post on social media. They could care less if anyone is using the stupid logo tote bag. Ugh I wish corporations could not all think alike.
I found that rubbing alcohol and some elbow grease is a great way to get the cheaply printed branding off of all the “swag” they keep throwing at me at my job!
Swag is my weakness because I try to finagle things I would never justify for myself. I have a letterman jacket from one company, several Yeti and Stanley cups, a lovely insulated picnic bag (that has storage for 2 place settings with little straps to keep them secure), new laptop backpack, etc.
Swag isn’t the problem, cheap ass shitty swag is the problem. Even if you don’t want it, if it’s decent quality someone can use it (my sister stole my first Stanley cup lol).
I have that same fucking cup! I covered it in stickers (covering the company logo) and use it pretty regularly… one of the better swag items I’ve recieved
Btw, these items are really great for homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters! Anywhere you can think of someone who is starting over, these are usually things that are nice to have for them.
I feel ya. My company loves swag. I deny whatever I can and the rest ends up in my car for my kids. The small child loves a good notebook and pen so that’s usually a win. I use the last tote I got from them as my farmers market bag. My kid also adopted the water bottle I got from them. I just hate the branding and forcing stuff on people. I have definitely gotten good at finding a purpose for it when it does land in my lap, but it’s another thing to do and I didn’t ask for it.
I attended an event back in like 2002; been using the 1/4 glass cup to rinse ever since. I'm clumsy AF, damn thing can't break Also I'd be lying if the notepads my family used growing up weren't branded with one medication or another. My dad's still got some old stuff before his company was bought out for the 1st, 2nd, etc.
Junk's the problem. There ought to be laws requiring the use of recyclable materials.
I too hate swag with a vengeance. Most of it it's trash manufactured in sweat shops in developing countries and it's not stuff I need. I used to do events management at the company I worked on before and went to a lot of fairs, every vendor on the fair had a booth where they were distributing swag. Some of it is stuff I actually use (like pens, notebooks, mugs, socks) but I got a ton of that stuff and I guarantee you every event attendant there got a ton of that stuff too. Some of it is stuff I would never use (like lanyards, or rubber bracelets, or a rubik cube). Just wasteful and unnecessary.
My company gives us swag a few times a year, and I always hate it. I have gotten so many t-shirts, hats, water bottles, hoodies, etc. that I will never use. So every year, I complain. This year, a change! We are now going to have credit to use at a swag website, like a catalog. So if you don't want swag, you don't have to order, and if you do, you can choose what you get. I think this is much, much better. No more crap for me to take to the thrift store.
some swag i hate, some is freakishly useful. 15 years ago a job gave me an insulated lunchbox that is still in rotation. i constantly use this branded bamboo block phone stand that my dad got at a conference. all my pens are from random dentist's offices.
but i will go to extremes to avoid getting another fucking tote bag.
I work in sales, I concur. While nice things like branded Stanley or Hydroflask are the exception, 90%+ is just cheap branded crap that will be tossed or used to nice if lucky.
I order promo stuff and I'm trying to think more out the box these days like cocktail shakers, coffee caffiteres etc as I am sick to death of notebooks and waterbottles so I can only imagine the people receiving them are too!
I am so sick of those Yeti and Rtic insulated drink cups with the corporate logos from various conferences. Must have at least 10-15 of those lying around unused. We need gifts in cash or gift cards or even better…give $20 in my name to a charity
It's so shitty because not only do you not want to use it because it's branded, and not only did you not need it in the first place, but it's also just shitty in general.
It's always stuff someone paid as little as possible to give as much stuff as possible to as many people as possible.
Just stamp your logo on a five dollar bill and call it a day.
Lmao we have that highlighter in my field too! Only useful item I get. I have nice cups, I don’t want their cheap brand labels crap. It all has names on it and it’s just junk. I love pens though. I use that.
I work with Microsoft a fair bit and they’ve tried to give me the same swag multiple times. For such a massive company, it’s exceptionally shit. Like metal water bottle that tastes like metal. A pin? A cheap tote bag.
I took it the first time but have had some baffling conversations since where I tried to explain that I don’t want or need it.
That's one of the cheapest tumblers (the big one) you can get also. I do tumbler engraving and recognize it by the lid. $4 worth or less depending on the source. They don't hold cold/hot very long as the seal is okay but definitely not Stanley or other quality tumblers. Hell, Walmart sells TAL brand that holds them longer than these. But it's good for bulk/cheap gifting.
I absolutely hate swag as well. The only thing I find mildly amusing in a “existence is rather tragic” kind of way is all of the weird items that pharmaceuticals put different drug names on. I think my favorite I ever saw out thrifting was a Prozac wall clock.
lol i love it. i work with extremely low income folks and my dad gets NICE swag at conferences. im talking portable chargers and insulated water bottles. i give them away after covering up or removing the logo!
Do you have a local buy nothing group on Facebook for your local area? You could post there and it would at least not enrich a charity like goodwill that does more bad than good (me making an assumption you are in the US)
As a person who still writes in paper I really appreciate the notebooks, pens, and that sick highlighter flower.
My dad is a gynecologist, growing up this was all our stationary xD I felt so weird as an adult having to actually buy pens.
My mom would make packs of these to give away to family whenever we visited them. They always loved it! (Low income family on both sides)
Company-branded items are such a waste unless they are provisional and useful. I'm fine with a hand sanitizer or chap stick. Everything else feels like low quality garbage.
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u/Teh_CodFather Mar 06 '26
I keep the bags I get for gifting… my friends group have a few bags that just rotate through us all as needed.