Promo Pen Collector

Show of hands, who had a mood ring at some point growing up?

Yea, that’s what I thought, almost everyone. I know I did and I loved that bulky multi-colored ring that always fell off my little fingers. Every time it changed colors I’d run to my little code book and decipher what mood related to the color on my ring.

Well, now there’s a (slightly) more grown up way to experience the joy of mood changing objects! I just found this pen online and I think it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. As your body temperature changes, so does the color of the light in the pen. Apparently they also make mood changing water bottles that change depending on the mood of your beverage and keychains that alternate colors as the temperature shifts.

Does anyone know if they make mood changing shirts as well? If so, I’d love to find one!!!

This isn’t a promotional pen; just a promotion for a pen… that went terribly awry (as so many translations do!).

A Mexican pen company, Parker Pen was looking to start a new ad campaign. Unfortunately they had a foreign ad team (or just some college kids making a joke, I’m not quite sure) and pretty soon they were apologizing for a pretty interesting slogan.

Instead of the intended “it won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you,” the company mixed up the verb “embarazer” and declared loud and proud- “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

Because when buying ball-point pens, this is definitely my largest concern.

Now that’s a pen collection!

Jeffrey Caren M.D. collects promotional pens- thousands of them! According to a Cedars-Sinai interview, he mounted the collection of pens pharmaceutical reps gave him and now displays the impressive assortment in his office.

Here’s a little clip of the exchange:

“I call my collection “Some Kind of Persuasion.” It’s really meant to trivialize the process. In my mind, the encounter is reduced to a $1 pen.

Does it work?

No. Now they just bring me more pens.”

Part of me wants to laugh at the irony. They continue to bring more pens! But part of me is a little sad about his collection; do these pens really dictate what doctors decide to prescribe to us? Is the entire drug industry balanced on a budget writing utensil?

Still, I wonder if anyone ever gave him a bone pen or mortar and pestle shaped pen? Those are some of my favorites for medical companies (whether it’s right or wrong, the pens are still pretty darn cool!)

Last week between October 10 and 11th the National Equality March gathered in Washington D.C. Over 200,000 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transvestite (LGBT) supporters gathered to demand equal rights and fair laws. Lady Gaga spoke, people cheered and promotional items were aplenty.

In fact, my friend who is an avid supporter of gay rights snagged me one of my favorite promotional pens yet. It’s white around on the bottom and then fades into a rainbow pattern near the top. It writes smoother than any pen I’ve ever had and sports the Equality symbol on the pen clip. It’s pretty much the most awesome pen I’ve ever seen.

But for some reason there are no pictures of it anywhere!

So I found some other equally awesome gay rights appropriate pens. Here are my favorite two:

1) Silver Twist Pen with Rainbow Barrell

I love this pen! Laser engraved on the smooth silver surface and covered with pretty rainbow stripes! It’s super awesome all around.

2) Color Changing pen with Rainbow Lanyard

This pen my not have the sophisticated edge of the one above, but it sure is fun! If you press the side button the pen lights up and alternates between red, blue and green for an illuminated rainbow. The lanyard it great for kids who have a habit of misplacing their pens, or perfect for a keychain.

When I saw this comic I couldn’t quit laughing. If only I was friends with Putin, I would imprint his name on a laser pointer/pen and give it to him for a lovely Christmas present. Maybe I’d even print “Putin’s Laser” on the side for all the world to see.

After all, the laser pen is a great promotional item for any occasion. Especially at trade shows, where presentations take place every half an hour or so, laser pointers are  used repeatedly (which promotes your company even when the speaker is trying to promote theirs).

For more political products check out PoliticalSchwag. Hope you enjoy!

Borrow My Pen? created this set of 8 pens, celebrating the creative advertisements found on promotional pens. Each pen in this set has a hilarious -and slightly inappropriate- saying on it, meant to make even the most level headed person squirm with discomfort.

My favorites are:
Stuffed with Love Taxidermy
Dr Lance Hughes Proctology: Turn your head and cough!
Springfield Sexual Addiction center: From perv to perfect in as little as 10 days.

The best part of these pens is the comical website description:

“You know those pens that end up in your pocket or purse promoting Joe’s Garage or Nancy’s House of Insurance? Well the sick minds behind these pens have taken it one step too far with this subversive collection of disturbing advertising keepsakes. Hand ‘em out to your friends, your parole officer, your boss… when you say “Borrow My Pen?” you’ll ALWAYS make an impression. Each set includes eight reputation ruining pens! P.S. Swipe your waiter’s pen at lunch and leave him with one of these! He should have refilled your iced tea like you asked!”

Just how I like my pens- with a bit of humor on the side.

We’ve reached the month of pink-Breast Cancer Awareness month.

In 2009 alone, it is estimated that 192,370 new cases of female breast cancer, and 1,910 of male breast cancer will be diagnosed. Of those thousands, 40,610 people will die. Forty thousand mothers, sisters and wives will leave family members behind to cope with the aftermath of cancer. Next year there will be at least that many more.

So what can we do to prevent the breast cancer epidemic? On a personal level females should exercise often and eat well. There are several studies pointing to links between obesity and breast cancer. Try small steps like wearing a pedometer around work to track your steps every day, or doing a quick aerobics tape before bed.

Most importantly- get screened. Women should be getting tested yearly; every 365 days after the age of 40 remind your doctor it’s time for a scan. Start sooner if you have a family history of breast cancer. Mammograms are no fun, but keep in mind they are a small sacrifice compared to a lifelong fight with cancer.

Of course individual steps are important, but how can your business or organization help? The NFL campaign showed the power of full scale endorsements. Your company can be a part of the fight as well with breast cancer promotional products.

Sharpie just came out with Pink markers to support breast cancer, but you can also find imprintable breast cancer pens on promotional product sites. Match your logo to pink water bottles or notepads to raise money. Print up some t-shirts for local survivors. Whatever the product, you’ll be promoting an infinitely worthy cause.

If everyone does their part, a difference will be made. 40 thousand people do not need to die every year; encourage your friends and family to get a mammogram.

I found this video while killing time on YouTube earlier today. Apparently pen spinning has become a world wide sensation in the underground world of ‘Nerd’. It’s not just a mindless activity reserved for boring lectures anymore, but a full-fledged art form with spinners from almost every country.

Wired.com did an entire article on the Art of Pen Spinning.

“You may be an ace with a Rubik’s cube, or even a yo-yo champion, but have you mastered that other geek hobby? You know, pen spinning? While most of us probably do it unconsciously while deep in thought, the art of twirling a pen like a baton between your fingers is an emerging sport amongst young people in Japan, reports the Japan Times.”

After a little research I found that the size and shape of the pen can make a difference. A few forums later, I discovered that the Bic Stic tends to work pretty well for spinning masters.

Now that I’ve found a purpose for all these promotional pens I’ve been collecting, I’ll  have to find someone to teach me some mad pens pinning skills. Any suggestions where to start?