Since Cheryl Cole is starting divorce proceedings, she’s decided that getting rid of her ‘Mrs C’ tattoo on her neck isn’t a bad idea either.

She has asked her management to clear a few more days to have the inking on the back of her back removed. If I were her, I’d get that tattoo of her hand and thigh removed too, but what do I know?

Cheryl wants it to be done in secret – unlike when Jordan had her “Pete” wrist tattoo inked over with a big black cross, which was all caught on camera for her reality TV series. If you just do the exact opposite of whatever Jordan does you can’t go too far wrong, whatever the situation. A friend of Cheryl’s told the Daily Mirror; “She wants it done discreetly and with class. She’s not one for big crass statements.” Not one for big crass statements - really?

Are you looking for some branding, but worried you’ll regret it? You want to go to a quality promotional product distributer, who can advise you on what sort of artwork will work best for you. Gift Selection is one quality distributer who will stop you from ‘Doing a Cheryl’, and make sure you get your branding exactly right.

Whether you’re looking for your corporate message to be; printed, engraved, embossed, stitched or molded, Gift Selection will get it right for you first time.

Branded mousemats are a big cheese within the promotional products industry ever since the 90s, with their popularity not showing any signs of slowing down.

Gift Selection can supply the widest range of branded mousemats you could possibly wish for. The beauty of branded mousemats is the large amount of advertising space, right there on your desktop. Look down about a bit…yes you got it!

Gift Selection has regular low cost branded mousemats, while if you’re looking for something a little more unusual then a branded Liquid filled mousemat is bound to get your brand noticed. Another option is to add a calendar to the mousemat - ideal for the thrifty promotional product buyer!

Gift Selection has a wide range of models in stock here in the UK, so your lead times won’t be long. Speak to one of their friendly team today for more information.

London 2012’s new mascots have been unveiled, and I’m wondering if I’m the only person who actually thought they were a joke. I mean, ‘Wenlock’ and ‘Mandeville,’ really?

This was the product of eighteen months of research and forty focus groups. From the top of my head I think a torch called ‘Flamey’ would have been a better idea. At least it would have been recognizable, had a catchy name and cost absolutely nothing to think of.

To be fair their unusual names do have meaning behind them as Wenlock in Shropshire is considered by many the birthplace of the modern Olympics. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC, visited the town in 1890 and took inspiration from the annual Games organised by Dr William Penny Brookes, a local doctor, to “promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants”.

Stoke Mandeville’s famous spinal injuries unit meanwhile was where the Paralympics movement began, and the naming of one mascot after the hospital is an explicit attempt to raise the profile of the Paralympics Games.

These mascots are all about making money however, with big businesses to be had from selling promotional merchandise. London 2012 say the key to meeting their commercial target has been developing a storyline that will lend Wenlock and Mandeville credibility in a pre-teen marketplace where they will be up against Dr Who and other established brands.

Lord Coe and the committee recruited former Children’s’ Laureate Michael Morpurgo, who came up with the concept of the mascots being fashioned from two drops of molten steel spilt in the making of the last steel girder used in the Olympic Stadium. Since when did children need a story line to be persuaded by something anyway? The Teletubies weren’t a success because of the interesting anthropological questions raised by their unusual gene pool. They were a success because they were fun and that’s it. 

Stephen Bayley, founder of the Design Museum, believes his daughter summed the mascots up perfectly when she referred to them as ‘rubbish earrings’. He said: ‘The logo was hideous enough but now we have these ridiculous, infantile mascots. Who is to blame for this I ask you? ‘Given the economic predicament that Britain is in at the minute, what right do they have to throw their money at such hideous creatures? They are atrocious.’

To be fair there has never been a decent Olympic games mascot. If you don’t agree, can you recall a single one? Waldi the multi-coloured Daschund anyone? I didn’t think so…

We love our favourite brands, and they love us, as we faithfully part with our hard earned cash for certain companies and their logos. But who was the first to recognize the importance of branding?

 Bass & Company, the British brewery, claims their red triangle brand was the world’s first trademark. Lyle’s Golden Syrup makes a similar claim, having been named as Britain’s oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Another example comes from Antiche Fornaci Giorgi in Italy, whose bricks are stamped or carved with the same proto-logo since 1731, as found in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Cattle were branded long before this; the term “maverick”, originally meaning an unbranded calf, comes from Texas rancher Samuel Augustus Maverick who, following the American Civil War, decided that since all other cattle were branded, his would be identified by having no markings at all. Even the signatures on paintings of famous artists like Leonardo Da Vinci can be viewed as an early branding tool.

Remember if you want to put your brand out there via the medium of products, contact the experts over at Gift Selection.

If you’re looking to order some promotional plastic pens, Prodir pens will be your number one choice for style and quality. Prodir pens are Switzerland’s greatest export aside from watches, fine jewellery, army knives, cheese and Roger Federer.

Aside from making great branded pens, they have also become a sponsor of a project to bring back brown bears to Switzerland, Italy and Austria. They are backing the Ursina project which aims to create a safe habitat in the Alps, implementing new livestock management techniques to get the bears back roaming the place again.

It is being led by nature conservation charity WWF Schweiz which is already a partner with Prodir. WWF has warned that brown bears will become extinct in the Alps unless action is taken. So help the bears and buy some branded Prodir pens that’s what I say. Quality distributors like Gift Selection and Pens2order can supply the full Prodir range, the DS1 right through to the DS7.

Recent research by Leapfrog shows that consumers will be pleased to know their favourite brands are home grown, and business should be keen to show off this fact.

Just over a quarter of people (26%) say they actively support British business because they want to keep money in the country. And 23% worry that if a brand is sold to a foreign company, it will lose its British identity. Understanding a product’s provenance is also a reason for 22% of people to buy British.

When people are out shopping, they like to see British brands on supermarket shelves, says research director Sarah Buckle. “There’s a nostalgia element to these associations – people have grown up with these brands,” she explains.

The research suggests Premier Foods-owned brands such as Hovis, Bisto and Oxo are synonymous with Britain. The UK-owned brands have been known to shoppers for several generations and the fact that they are still based in this country makes them favourites in a super competitive market. It seems we have a real connection with food, as it is food and drink brands that suffer most if they sell up to foreign owners. The survey states that 31% think it would negatively affect a food and drinks business if it was no longer a British company.

This distinction between British and foreign brands is a hazy one. Many brands that have overseas owners are believed to be British, for example 38% believe that Hamleys, which is part-owned by an Iceland bank, is wholly British owned. Buckle says that’s no surprise as the toy store is “synonymous with London”. Land Rover, which is owned by Indian company Tata Group, is also believed to be a British brand by 39% of respondents.

This is clear message that brands should try to remain as authentic as possible, with foreign-owned companies with UK heritage should not be hesitant to market their roots. Although many say they’re not happy Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury, if their British values and image maintain, consumers won’t even notice the change, let alone mind.

If you’re looking to use promotional products as part of your marketing campaign, then speak to Gift Selection about which promotional items are made in the UK. Most promotional items are imported from the Far East, and then personalised here in Britian, but there certain items which are completely made in the UK.

The popular St George promotional mug (see image), is one of the few branded mugs that is completely made and printed here in England. If you want to get your typically British message out on people’s desk, contact the friendly team over at The Mugstore who will be happy to talk mugs!

When it comes to branding bags for an event, brands don’t come to much bigger then Louis Vuitton, while events don’t come much bigger then the World Cup. Can you guess what’s coming next? LV has launched a new campaign featuring football legends Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane, and has also revealed it is creating a new case for the World Cup trophy.

The activity is supported online through their typically glossy website louisvuittonjourneys.com, featuring a conversation between the three players who recall their careers and the matches they played in (Maradona’s handballs, twenty year drug addiction and tax aviation isn’t dwelled on).

Louis Vuitton at its workshop in Asnières, France, designs and makes around 450 special orders, such as the FIFA travel case, every year. Antoine Arnault, head of communications for Louis Vuitton said: ‘The world cup trophy should be brought on to the pitch in its case and revealed by a Louis Vuitton ambassador, in front of millions of fans and viewers.’

If your business wants some branded bags for a corporate event, then it certainly doesn’t have to be for as grand occasion as the world cup. Quality promotional product distributors, can supply a full range of promotional bags that don’t have to cost a fortune.

Branded cotton shoppers are great for low cost, large scale promotions, which means your brand will get noticed everywhere. On the hand, for corporate exhibitions and meetings, top end embossed leather conference bags will ensure your brand gives off the right image.

No matter what your budget, contact the friendly team over at Gift Selection for all information you could possibly need about branded bags.