Before the Economic Crisis: Google Frisbee 12th December, 2008
Once upon a time, before Google became stingy about gift giving, it had a variety of really cool pieces of swag. You may have remembered the Google rocket pen which lights up — and this is an item you were actually able to score at trade shows. Google also had once awarded advertisers with a really cool fridge. And if you went to the Google store, you’d have found a nifty beanbag chair.
I still have photos to upload of the latest Google schwag, but let me put it this way: given that the only thing I see at Google lately is a wad of Silly Putty, there’s not much to feature here. Google is responding to economic times by skimping on quality and quantity despite expectations to the contrary (and this is not only my opinion!). That said, we can still reflect on the times when Google had good schwag, and hopefully they will return to their earlier ways. While we’re all suffering from the economy, I can’t help but think that it’s still nice to consider promotional materials to put a smile on the faces of those who are directly impacted by the financial crisis.
See? This is a Google frisbee that I got at an event earlier this year. And it rocks. I hope to see more of these in the future.