For Brittany David, the America250 hype hasn’t materialized the way she thought it would.

The chief revenue officer at Counselor Top 40 supplier SnugZ (asi/88060) has received feedback from her customers that end-buyers and users weren’t interested in the America250 official logo.

“The customers and competitors alike that I’ve talked to are feeling like it’s more a waste of time than a way of making money,” says David, who’s also a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of most influential people in promo. “I know some people are making money off it, but more of the conversations I have are people going back and forth about what customers think about America250, versus actually doing business with them.”

The situation is different over at Counselor Top 40 supplier HPG (asi/61966). “Overall, we’ve been very pleased with the traction we’ve gotten with America250-related merch,” says Ben Pawsey, VP of marketing at the firm. “In particular, goods that can be used outside, such as sunscreen, fans and coolers are selling very well.”

This July Fourth marks 250 years of American independence – a moment that has promised to not only be an incredible celebration for the country, but also a boon for the promo industry, with suppliers and distributors eager to capitalize on the events and festivities happening across the U.S. But while some suppliers have been incredibly successful selling goods around the occasion, others have witnessed minimal appetite for America250-related merch.

A Controversial Logo

A logo isn’t always just a logo. It carries a set of values and experiences that resonate with end-users – or don’t. And that’s certainly the case with the official America250 logo.

David and her team at SnugZ decided early on that if they were receiving requests for the America250 licensed logo that warranted the expense, they would add it to the collection. (Suppliers and other vendors can become official licensees.) But those requests never arrived.

“I know other people are buying it, and I’ve talked to suppliers who are successfully selling it, but for our customers and end-users, it wasn’t in high demand,” she says of the official America250 logo. “A lot of people thought the creative was ugly to begin with, they just didn’t think the artwork was very exciting.”

But David says it’s more than just an “ugly” logo that’s stopping people from investing in America250 merch. “It’s also become increasingly politicized. It’s taken on a whole different meaning now and there are so many different opinions,” she says. “People are straying away from [the America250 logo] intentionally because something that could be and should be celebrated could have another meaning.”

Mitch Cahn, founder and president of Unionwear (asi/73775), a domestic supplier based in Newark, NJ, has witnessed a similar sentiment from customers pushing back against the official America250 logo.

“We got no traffic at all using the America250 logo,” he says. “Nobody wanted to use it. I just think people thought it might have been loaded politically and companies didn’t want to take that risk.”

“What’s that piece of American history for your region that you can build into a promotion so it becomes a keepsake people are proud to keep?”Ben Pawsey, HPG (asi/61966)

Instead, suppliers like Cahn found ways to get creative, incorporating broader patriotic themes without using the official logo. “We ended up using companies’ logos and we came up with a bunch of our own to do something a little different.”

That creativity paid off – especially in the wearables category. Cahn estimates that over the last three months, 80% of the firm’s hat shipments (one of its most popular product types) have been related to America250. However, much of it was by design.

“We knew this was coming, so we built a lot more inventory up than we normally do. We told our customers to expect a disruption similar to a presidential campaign,” says Cahn, whose company has made election merch for candidates across the political aisle.

SnugZ, for its part, has incorporated red, white and blue branding into its products, although David says in general her customers seem to be more excited about promo for the World Cup than the nation’s birthday.

HPG has no regrets about using the America250 licensed logo.

“It’s always a bit of a gamble because you have to spend a lot of money to get the license and then you hope the orders come,” says Pawsey. “But sure enough, they have come. We ended up covering the cost of the license within a week or two of publicizing the fact that we had it.”

While Pawsey says he hasn’t necessarily been blown away by the quantity of orders, the average order value has been “quite high.”

Focus on Domestic Manufacturing

For Counselor Top 40 supplier Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125), America250 has been a meaningful way to help customers connect with their audiences through products that commemorate a historic moment. (The supplier is an official America250 licensee and offers 139 licensed products.) Domestically made products, says Chief Marketing Officer Jennifer Grigorian Feldberg, played a large role in the supplier’s America250 success.

“The USA-made component was especially important because America250 is fundamentally about celebrating American history, innovation and pride. Customers are increasingly interested in products that support domestic manufacturing, shorter supply chains and products with a strong ‘Made in the USA’ story,” she explains. “Our heavy focus on USA-made items allowed us to align the collection with those values while giving distributors products that are practical for their end-users.”

Cahn, who has spent much of his career preaching the good word about Made-in-USA manufacturing, says he’s also witnessed a renewed interest in domestic manufacturing in the wake of America250.

According to Google Trends, Made-in-USA searches in April were the highest they’ve been since the months following March 2020 – when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a return to domestic production of masks and other protective industrial products. Even April 2025, which saw a spike in Made-in-USA searches due to President Trump’s initial barrage of reciprocal tariffs that were later struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026, still fell steadily below searches over the last few months.

Cahn says America250 contributed to that trend, but so did a number of other events and campaigns, such as the World Cup. And he doesn’t expect that trend to slow down, especially with the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and a midterm election just around the corner.

“This is going to be a very expensive midterm,” he notes. “And where non-presidential elections generally don’t provide a huge bump in sales, expensive elections do. You hear about people spending $100 million on a gubernatorial or a senatorial campaign. If just a couple of percentage points of that is spent on promotional products, those [products] are going to be Made in USA, and we’re going to start to see that shift in the promo industry.”

He added that there’s also a lot of soft money that goes into these midterm elections, too, because PACs and other political groups tend to spend heavily on merch for elections.

Industry-specific data from ASI’s ESP platform tells a slightly different story. Searches using the Made-in-the-USA filter were down in March, April and May this year – the same time last year when President Trump’s tariff announcements caused a spike of interest in searches for American-made products.

However, searches for the term “patriotic” are up each month in 2026 by more than 100%.

This aligns with what David has witnessed in SnugZ’s America250-related sales.

“We’re doing a lot of red, white and blue,” she says. “In general, we see more economically driven SKUs. So, if it’s drinkware, they’re the economy drinkware. They’re items that are probably under $2, sometimes under a dollar giveaway is really what we’re seeing it show up on. Not a ton of truly commemorative, big-budget items that were pushed early on.”

Capitalizing on America250

Although the official America250 celebrations are in July, there are other ways to get involved beyond Independence Day. Cahn notes that the television ads around the campaign are running through the end of the year, so there’s plenty of time to get involved.

So what’s actually selling when it comes to America250 promotional products? Unionwear has done incredibly well with wearables. To Cahn, that makes a lot of sense. He says that if a supplier sells a USA-made product, it’s important that the country of origin is prominently displayed – something that wearables like hats readily achieve.

Feldberg of Hit added that intentionality, timeless designs and color consistency have been key to driving sales.

“The goal was to create products that feel celebratory and timeless rather than overly trendy, allowing organizations to use them proudly throughout the America250 celebration,” she says. “By keeping the designs clean, patriotic and aligned with the official branding, we were able to create a collection that feels authentic, meaningful and visually connected across the entire product line.”

“The goal was to create products that feel celebratory and timeless rather than overly trendy, allowing organizations to use them proudly throughout the America250 celebration.”Jennifer Grigorian Feldberg, Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125)

Similar to Cahn, some of Feldberg’s favorite America250 products include wearables, such as USA-made trucker hats and fleece sweatshirts.

Pawsey says there’s also an opportunity to localize some of these products for a specific audience. “Think beyond just the America250 logo,” he recommends. “If it’s a product like a nice speaker or a tote bag with a large imprint area, it will add something that will resonate with your audience. What’s that piece of American history for your region that you can build into a promotion so it becomes a keepsake people are proud to keep?”

He adds that while people might forget what the America250 logo means, localizing the product will make it more meaningful. For example, he explains, if a distributor is working with a client in New York, or an America250 event in the Big Apple, they might decide to add a graphic of the Statue of Liberty.

“Now you have a piece of art that ties to your local American history,” he explains.

He added that while suppliers and distributors can’t control how people feel about the political connotations of America250, what they can control is how they position it.

“If you lead with the notion of celebrating America [as it is right now], that might rub some people the wrong way,” he says. “But it really is about celebrating your home, celebrating your history and your heritage.”