Hey Reader!

Here's the deal: every Thursday, you'll get a handful of brands doing merch around a theme, plus the idea worth stealing from each, so your next giveaway is something people are delighted to keep and use.

This week's theme: merch that started with the product, not the logo.

One favor: hit reply and tell me what you’re buying merch for next, like an event, your team or clients. I read every reply, and your answers will shape future themes.

Walmart Turned Its Rotisserie Chicken Bag Into a $5.97 Purse

Walmart noticed something funny on social media: about 15,000 posts about its rotisserie chicken, including people carrying the chicken bag around like a purse. So Walmart made a real one. It's a fabric purse that looks like the bag, and it costs $5.97, the same price as the chicken. The first 5,000 sold out online in 90 minutes. Resellers listed them for 7x the price.

Walmart also made charms shaped like the chicken bag, a hot sauce bottle and a lemon-pepper seasoning shaker. It was the first time Walmart made merch because customers asked for it.

Takeaways:

• Walmart didn't come up with the joke. Its customers did, and Walmart was listening.
• The $5.97 price is the punchline. Matching the price of the chicken made it news.
• Steal this: what do your customers already joke about? A nickname for your truck, a phrase your counter staff says every day, the thing everybody comments on. Put that on something and it'll get passed around.

Betty Crocker's Cake-Slice Purses Sold Out in 13 Hours

Betty Crocker has been around for over 100 years, and her boxes have been selling the same slice of cake the whole time. So the brand made three $89 handbags shaped like slices of its Yellow, Triple Chocolate Fudge and Strawberry cakes, and called the collection "Betty Ate." All three sold out in 13 hours, and a second drop followed.

Takeaways:

• No new design needed. The product's shape was the design.
• An old brand felt new without changing its logo.
• Steal this: what's the most recognizable shape in your business? A pipe fitting, a hard hat, a delivery truck, your building? That shape is a keychain, a stress ball or a bottle opener waiting to happen.

Ocean Spray Built a Hoodie With a Secret Snack Pocket

To launch new Craisins snack packs in Australia, Ocean Spray made the Secret Snack Stash Hoodie. It has a pocket sized for the snacks, plus hidden pockets for your phone, wallet and passport. The pitch: get your snacks past venue bag checks and skip the airline carry-on fees. They promoted it with a radio quiz and 50 small influencers.

Takeaways:

• The pocket is sized for the product, which keeps the brand in the story.
• The hoodie solves an annoying problem, so people get it in about two seconds.
• Steal this: what's an everyday annoyance for your crew or your customers? Nowhere to put a phone on the job site, cold hands in the truck, a tape measure that keeps falling out of a pocket. Merch that fixes it gets worn.

If one of these sparked an idea for your next event, your team or your
clients, I can help you make it happen at BigPromotions.net.