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.
Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
51–60 of 81 posts
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#52I think the guideline should be that if you're not willing to spend enough to give away a durable good that people would actually use (e.g. a good quality t-shirt), we should normalize giving away useful, common _consumable_ goods. This can avoid increasing waste if it just replaces/delays consumption the recipient was already going to do anyway. It's shorter-lived, so they don't act as a walking ad for you (but no o…
I'd definitely wipe my ass with some Windows 11 TP.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#53The useful things I got from startups and/or conferences over 20 years:
- light backpack (got it in 2003 at a conference and loved it so much that I tried to find out where they sourced it from when it finally broke after years of intensive use);
- mugs
- USB sticks (can't have enough as they tend to vanish)
- (unobtrusive) t-shirts
The useless swag (which I often remove from swag backs while still at the event):
- (obnoxious) t-shirts (too attention-seeking or the ones with the wrong logos...)
- most electronics
- most things made of plastic
- paper adware that doesn't really say anything except for logo and buzzwords
Good choices for swag are paper notebooks and pens, but the quality of the swag items will be associated with your brand, remember (it is true the quality has gone down in recent year, and also the spend per vendor)!
I encourage you all to speak out and give generous feedback about the swag offered to you, especially regarding utility, quality and ecological footprint.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's all so repetitive. I have a cupboard full of mugs, travel mugs and water bottles. A bunch are even the same product with just a different color and logo! How many liquids does one man need to keep hot/cold for 24 hours?!
Why do you continue to take them? I refuse swag from my own employer if I don't see myself using those things.
My current employer ships us swag and sometimes doesn't tell us up front.
Fortunately, our swag tends to be useful and decent stuff.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#55The useful things I got from startups and/or conferences over 20 years: - light backpack (got it in 2003 at a conference and loved it so much that I tried to find out where they sourced it from when it finally broke after years of intensive use); - mugs - USB sticks (can't have enough as they tend to vanish) - (unobtrusive) t-shirts The useless swag (which I often remove from swag backs while still at the event): - (…
As a rule I don't trust USB stick swag.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#56I loved those IFTTT socks back in the day though.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#57GitHub sponsored a coffee van at FOSDEM. That was a solid choice.
Can't cost that much to run a van for the day (I see them in places with low footfall and the incremental material cost is low), quite low waste, widely appreciated by conference attendees. Also the queue was long so people spent a while in front of the logo, some of the time discussing GitHub.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#58You 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…
They might change their behaviour. Or at least I might disuade any company I work for from making swag. That said my company’s swag has been pretty decent - replacing clothing I would have purchased anyway. So it can be good.
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#59I 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/…
Those are wonderful, I'd definitely use a nice pen and Moleskine
Re: Ask HN: Can we have a conversation on startup swag waste?
#60It’s because Patagonia doesn’t let you brand their stuff anymore and no one knows L L Bean exists.