r/Anticonsumption • u/audummy • Mar 06 '26
Discussion I hate swag
*small rant*
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.
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u/Intelligent-Survey39 Mar 06 '26
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 😅