By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert
That’s officially one of the most brutally honest pieces of merch feedback I’ve ever received.
Someone commented on one of my posts that they were given a branded webcam cover. They liked the webcam cover itself—but not the branding. So they grabbed a bottle of acetone, dissolved the company logo, and kept using it.
Honestly? I couldn’t stop laughing.
It’s also the perfect example of what’s wrong with so much branded merchandise.
One of the biggest defenses I hear for generic company swag is:
“But it’s useful.”
And yes, webcam covers are useful. In a poll I ran recently, about 25% of respondents said they actively use them and love having one.
But here’s the problem:
Useful and meaningful are not the same thing.
Anyone can slap a logo onto a functional item and call it promotional merchandise. But if your audience immediately wants to remove your logo, you’ve missed the entire point of investing in branded swag.
The goal of great custom merch isn’t simply to get your logo onto someone’s laptop, water bottle, or desk.
The goal is to create something people are genuinely excited to own—with your logo still on it.
That’s where your company’s personality, values, and identity matter.
The best corporate gifts and employee swag feel like extensions of the brand itself. They’re thoughtful. They’re well-designed. They’re products people would happily choose for themselves.
There’s a huge difference between generic logo merchandise and meaningful branded merch.
One becomes part of someone’s identity.
The other becomes the thing they scrub off with nail polish remover.
If your audience is willing to erase your logo but keep the product, you’ve created something useful—but not memorable.
The best promotional products don’t just survive because they’re functional.
They survive because people actually like the brand behind them.
I’m curious: Have you ever removed a logo from something? Or wanted to? Would you take the logo off a webcam cover—or would you leave it on?