I cringe when people say promotional products.

Promotional products, to me, is synonymous with cheap logo’ed items that are given out — usually en masse — for free.

You know what I mean: t-shirt guns, flashlights, wireless charging pads, koozis.

So I hate when people think I’m in promotional products. I call it branded merchandise, and here’s what branded merchandise is to me:

• high-quality items you actually want to own
• items you CHOOSE to own (they are not thrust upon you)
• designs that actually mean something to you and reflect the company’s values and identity

“Promo items” should make you cringe — it’s the wasteful stuff you don’t want. Branded merchandise can be fun, easy, high-quality, and can actually increase the bottom line in your business.

What’s a promo item you want to hate but actually love? I’ll go first: SHORTS. If you give me shorts I will actually keep them forever. I’ll probably wear them until they have holes in them.