In the tricky world of corporate branding, a row has broken out between Wikipedia and the FBI over the use of its seal. In a letter sent to Wikipedia’s San Francisco office, the FBI said that “unauthorised reproduction of the FBI Seal was prohibited by US law”. “Whoever possesses any insignia…or any colourable imitation there of..shall be fined…or imprisoned… or both,” the FBI wrote.   Not being easily phased, Wikipedia denied that it had done anything wrong and said that FBI lawyers had “misquoted the law”. The issue centred on the...

See the game on Saturday? Painful wasn’t it. If we can’t beat a team that doesn’t even call football by its real name, then we have some serious issues.   The England camp is more optimistic than me. Robert Green is confident he has the mental resolve to bounce back from the World Cup howler that helped the United States draw 1-1 with England.   “I’m sure there’s 50-odd million people disappointed with me, but I’ll come back, work hard and it won’t affect me,” said West Ham goalkeeper Green. “At half time I walked in, apologised to the lads and moved...

Did you see the Golden Globe Awards the other night? It was the 67th year, but the first that the star-studded ceremony had seen a host for 15 years.   An unlikely choice of host was Briton’s own Ricky Gervais, who had the nerve racking honour of keeping banter levels high. His targets included Sir Paul McCartney, Angelina Jolie, Steve Carrell, TV network NBC and the Hollywood smart set in general.   My favourite line of the night was: “Looking at all the faces here makes me remember all the great work that’s been done this year by cosmetic surgeons,” he joked.   He went down a...

For 2010 Giftselection and Pens2order are launching a new range of low cost promotional pens – the Scripto series.   Scripto being the Latin word for ‘I write’, this budget pen brand is actually rooted in early 20th Century American ingenuity and design. Scripto went into business in 1923 and was known as the M. A. Ferst Company. It was a major supplier of graphite leads. The following year the company name was changed to Scripto. The company hasn’t looked back, and is popular in the U.S promotions market.   In the New Year they will offer a collection of “noteworthy” promotional...

Marketing site Brand Republic recently interviewed the great British public, asking for their opinions over the proposed plans to change the image of dear old Mickey Mouse. The consensus was that Mickey should not be changed into cunning and cantankerous character as it would “spoil the essence” of the 71-year-old Disney character and be “a very expensive mistake. Not only that, but how many six year olds know what cantankerous means anyway?   Similarly when ordering promotional products, I always advise people to use the same branding across all their products, and only change your...

The Guinness world record holder for the person with the longest fingernails in the world has lost them in a car crash – only in the US. Lee Redmond, of Salt Lake City, Utah, sustained serious but not fatal injuries in the accident. Whether these injuries were the result of her ridiculously long nails or not I’m unsure.  Her once record-breaking nails, which hadn’t been cut since 1979, measured in at 35 inches before the accident.   I think this was God’s way of hinting that better personal hygiene was in order. If your staff are looking like they could do with a manicure – then...

The US pharmaceutical industry has spoken out against promotional products in a response to the growing concerns the medical community has over potential conflicts of interests. This is big bad news for the promotional product industry as it is estimated that it will cost the US industry hundreds of millions of dollars. There certainly was a thriving market as drug companies across the pond spent over $6 billion in total on marketing activities in 2007. This money was spent on surgery visits, breakfast and lunch presentations as well as printed promotional pens and other promotional corporate...

The other day a New Zealander by the name of Chris Ogle 29, stumbled upon some confidential data about US military personnel on an MP3 player he bought from a thrift shop in Oklahoma!   Unbelievably according to New Zealand TV, included in the files where the names, social security and telephone numbers of American soldiers and bits of information to do with Afghanistan briefings. All of this came with warnings, saying that the release of these contents is “prohibited by federal law.”   This loss of sensitive data from the world’s most powerful organisation, which landed into the hands of...

 In a few hours Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th and first mixed race president of the United States. At least two million people are expected to attend the inauguration, with an estimated one billion people watching the event on their televisions. Mr Obama will take the oath of office on the historic President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Bible at 1200 local time (1700 GMT). He will be sworn in on the steps of the Capitol building looking across the city towards the iconic White House.   Mr Obama has played an interesting role in the world of marketing and promotional products,...

For as long as anyone can remember Walt Disney has been the most globally recognisable entertainment corporation. The company embodies America, success and capitalism. With a gigantic merchandise business, are we all in love with Disney? It seems an interesting dualism that many professionals scoff at the sight of a Mickey Mouse watch or Donald Duck socks. Depending on where you work, wearing a Mickey Mouse tie to the office would not only warrant a frown, but will lead co-workers and managers to question your professionalism. One more careless trip to the Disney Store and you’ll be collecting your...