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Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

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Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#41

Post by carom »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #8

This is the time of year in Austin (sxsw) that we load up on a years supply of free promo sunglasses. The funny perk of being a highly paid engineer is all the free stuff you get. I don't know if it's an accurate representation of the flow of money but I've always thought of it as the fed sending stimulus money to me directly through banks & VCs.

That always struck me as strange. Getting a high quality branded sweatshirt, just give it to someone who doesn't sit in a climate controlled space all day. Plenty of cold people out there.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#42

Post by cbanek »

While it can make you feel very special to get a gift bag containing a bunch of things, and getting that "Oooo, I get to open it" I'd rather just have a table with the swag on it. Take what you want. Some people like pens (I always lose mine). Some like cups, or notepads, or whatever. But like you hinted at, each person has things that they will use, and more things they probably won't. And who cares if someone takes a bunch of them - you're almost sure that they'll all get used then!

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#44

Post by cranekam »

Most swag is total junk. I don't need yet another cotton bag, notepad, pen or bad coffee cup. I would rather get nothing at all.

I worked at Facebook for years. In the earlier years of my tenure they gave out Christmas (or company birthday? I forget) gifts. Most were not great but one year they gave pajama pants, which have probably seem more use than any other item of clothing I own and are still going strong.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#45

Post by that_guy_iain »

triyambakam wrote: post #10

I would tolerate swag more if it were actually quality. Like you mention, so much of it is junk. But I also hate logos on things I use, so it's only half the problem.

I got some branded swag for my startup for new customers. I literally made sure that the swag wasn't just usable but something people might actually use. For example, moleskine notebook [0], a metal parker pen[1], and a metal parker pencil. And even with it being good quality stuff, I am still worried when I give it out that it's just going to end up being tat that thrown in the bin.

0 - https://www.allbranded.co.uk/Office/Storage-Organisation/Not...

1 - https://www.allbranded.co.uk/Classics/Pens-Pencils/Parker-Pe...

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#46

Post by Symbiote »

jedberg wrote: post #25

I think part of the problem is actually the shift away from shirts. Swag is advertising but at least a shirt served a purpose and if you didn’t want it you could donate it. Many company shirts ended up at Goodwill or shipped off the 3rd world countries. But shirts are expensive so no one gives them anymore. They’ve shifted to the cheapest items they can find. I usually turn down swag now and when I’m in charge of swa…

The tshirts, if they end up abroad, contribute to ruining the local textile industry.

Many developing countries had local industry producing fabric and clothes, but they really struggle to compete with free or almost free waste Western clothes.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#47

Post by dijit »

I actually have an issue currently; I run a volunteer IRC network and people beg me for swag (minor gift for recurring donations and so on).

My issue is that I refuse to make shit.

I want to test products before I inflict them on the people using my services, not only that I want my brand of service associated with high quality.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#48

Post by KennyBlanken »

Gigachad wrote: post #33
jedberg wrote: post #25

I think part of the problem is actually the shift away from shirts. Swag is advertising but at least a shirt served a purpose and if you didn’t want it you could donate it. Many company shirts ended up at Goodwill or shipped off the 3rd world countries. But shirts are expensive so no one gives them anymore. They’ve shifted to the cheapest items they can find. I usually turn down swag now and when I’m in charge of swa…

The stuff has become so cheap and junky that it's basically useless. Like they hand out bluetooth speakers which sound worse than laptop speakers. And then the company gets stuck with box loads of this ewaste junk when branding changes. I think the least wasteful idea I saw was the company branding on a packet of mints. At least thats something almost everyone wants and isn't any more wasteful than store mints.

I remember working at a company where some idiot in marketing ordered a thousand or so clear bouncy-balls with the company logo that had electronics inside that flashed red LEDs and made an obnoxious chime through a loud piezo speaker. They were almost the size of lacrosse ball. They were useless even for just idle play because you could probably punch a hole in a wall with one, damage equipment, or hurt someone.

To this day I have no idea what the hell they were thinking.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#49

Post by olyjohn »

jedberg wrote: post #25

I think part of the problem is actually the shift away from shirts. Swag is advertising but at least a shirt served a purpose and if you didn’t want it you could donate it. Many company shirts ended up at Goodwill or shipped off the 3rd world countries. But shirts are expensive so no one gives them anymore. They’ve shifted to the cheapest items they can find. I usually turn down swag now and when I’m in charge of swa…

T-shirts are awesome, because you can wear them when you change your oil and you don't have to get your good work clothes dirty.

Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?

#50

Post by II2II »

legalcorrection wrote: post #29

You can criticize anything you want under the guise of some environmentalist angle. Can everyone stop doing Y because Y is bad for the environment? Where Y can be traveling, drinking the wrong kind of water, having a big house, driving a car, flushing the toilet too often, taking long showers, printing reports, turning on the lights, not living in a tent on the street, getting a new phone every two years. This is so…

I think their point was that very few people want this stuff, which may or may not be true.

Based upon the comments so far, it sounds like a lot of this stuff is unwanted since it is either low quality or they get so much of it that it is redundant. It sounds like a lot of people would welcome it if it was higher quality or not redundant.

I would hardly call it an environmental crusade if it stops behaviours that are out of habit and that people do not find beneficial, unlike your examples (most of which people do because it has value in their life).

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