The past two days in the Philadelphia area were the first truly nice weekend of spring. With both our calendars and the skies clear, our family packed into the car for a 30-minute drive to beautiful Evansburg State Park. The woods weren’t crowded, but often enough, we were standing aside to make way for people as we encountered them on the narrow hiking trails.

Typically, we just said “Hello” if they passed or “Thank You” if they made way for us. But as we encountered one elderly couple, I noticed the husband was wearing an item branded with the logo of “Weavers Way” – a local co-op where we regularly shop. I opened my mouth: “Does Weavers Way sell those? I’ve never seen them before.” He said yes and we talked for a minute before we both went our parting ways.

The moment wasn’t out of the ordinary. After all, logoed promotional products are the igniter of thousands of conversations every day.

But I must admit, that exchange was a first for me. Walking through the crisp forest air, this man wasn’t wearing a Weavers Way shirt or hat, or even carrying a Weavers Way bag.

He was wearing a logoed mask.

Such a scene would have been bizarre two months ago. I still remember standing in the post office and doing a double take when I saw someone walk in with a breathing mask and gloves.

Now? Masks are everywhere. And my conversation with the masked gentleman on the trail? As normal as could be. 

Later that day and the following morning, I thought about that conversation. It struck me not just how quickly we’ve adapted as a society, but also the remarkable way that promo products sit at the heart of that change.

Masks have become our first line of defense against COVID-19. Stores, airlines and Ubers are requiring them. Schools in the fall may outfit every student and teacher in one. And here is the promotional products industry throwing its entire manufacturing, sourcing and branding might into the phenomenon, arming a population that is desperate for normalcy.

And it’s not just masks or PPE. Every day we’re bombarded with visual reminders of how promotional products are carrying people through this crisis. The yard signs congratulating graduating seniors and thanking first responders; the merch fundraisers that crowd inboxes and social media feeds; the logoed shirts and hats that populate Zoom calls as #WFH attire.

We here at ASI have documented the promo’s industry unlikely pivot to PPE and examined the seeming moral quandary of profiting from a global pandemic. If I did have any misgivings over the branding of masks, they disappeared the moment I saw the man wearing a mask decorated with the logo of a grocery store. It didn’t feel wrong or unethical. It felt completely, utterly, disarmingly normal.  

Society often sees marketing as just another unnecessary layer of capitalist avarice. But in this time when greed is being left behind, it’s telling that promo products have remained ever-present. It reinforces the secret that those of us in the industry have known all along: Promo products bind us. They are woven into the fabric of our culture and augment so much good. However the world will change, promo products will change right along with it.