This has nothing to do with promotional products, but everything to do with Elijah Wood scaring kids with his pathetic excuse for a beard. Watch the whole thing. Seriously. “Go crazy! Go crazy!”

The promotional products industry topped $18 billion in sales in 2006. As one of the larger promotional products distributors in the country, Absorbent, Ink. takes the welfare of our customers very seriously. We strive to work with environmentally conscious suppliers who manufacture and produce the safest products in the industry, and have been very pleased to see our industry take our environmental concerns seriously.

A recent article titled “Recalls have Parents on Alert,” by Kevin Rader of WTHR.com said Mattel recalled a toy jeep that contained lead paint. “The jeep was a promotional product marketed from the movie cars. Lead paint has been banned in this country since 1978 but it is still produced in China,” wrote Rader.

The promotional products industry topped $18 billion in sales in 2006. As one of the larger promotional products distributors in the country, Absorbent, Ink. takes the welfare of our customers very seriously. We strive to work with environmentally conscious suppliers who manufacture and produce the safest products in the industry, and have been very pleased to see our industry take our environmental concerns seriously.

A recent article titled “Recalls have Parents on Alert,” by Kevin Rader of WTHR.com said Mattel recalled a toy jeep that contained lead paint. “The jeep was a promotional product marketed from the movie cars. Lead paint has been banned in this country since 1978 but it is still produced in China,” wrote Rader.

A press release from Mattel on Aug. 15, 2007, stated the company voluntarily recalled the toy because the paint on the die-cast vehicle had “impermissible levels of lead.” This recall caused Mattel to change the way it regulates and checks for lead in paint.

Promotional products are supposed to leave a good impression in clients’ minds, not leave them worrying if they purchased an item that could be potentially dangerous.

Although ink containing a low level of lead is not banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, suppliers in our industry have been experimenting with inks, such as soy-based and zinc-based, to replace those with trace amounts of lead. The challenges these inks present are a lack of gloss, less resistance to scratches, and less dishwasher durability. Imprinting with these inks sometimes leaves customers unhappy with the end result, but are potentially safer for society.

One state that has gone above and beyond to protect people from potential harm is California. The CPSC has standards and guidelines with products containing lead paint and heavy metals. California, however, has set its own guidelines.

California’s guidelines are outlined in The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65. Proposition 65 is more stringent than the CPSC regulations require. It requires companies to put warning labels on products with paint or ink containing miniscule amounts of lead. There still remains debate on whether Prop 65 is necessary or not, but we are happy to comply with these regulations

State governments are not the only ones tightening production guidelines; some companies are as well. Sabina, a major decorator of ceramic, glass, and polycarabonate drinkware, is one of many printers that have honored Proposition 65. For products designated for use or shipment into California, Sabina offers California approved warning labels indicating that the product contains low concentrations of lead or cadium. As well, Sabina offers a complete color palate of non-lead inks for imprinting on these items.

Keeping people safe is an important priority and we are relieved to see that companies in our industry go above and beyond in meeting federal regulations.

Here’s a list of products recalled due to not meeting the lead paint standards:

Thomas and Friends wooden trains
Spongebob journal
Thomas & Friends Spinning Tops and Pails
Sarge die-cast promotional product
Elmo Light Up Musical Pal
Ernie Light Up Musical Pal
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Holy pen, Batman!

Costas Schuler is the “pen guy.” He started the Mercedes Pens project in June of 2005 has has glued over 5000 pens to his Mercedes Benz.

Recently he moved onto the inside of his car:

“I finally finished my first door panel on the Mercedes Pens Ar Car. I managed to bend a whole bunch of Gel Pens with a heat gun and glue them on the painted door panel in the shape of a tree with 100% Clear silicone. I wanted to see how much further I could take my art using pens.” (Pen Guy’s Blog)

By the way, we have pens.

Dear Abby, Couples Negril is a 234 room hotel. Each year we celebrate our anniversary, and give our guests a gift to commemorate the occasion. I need ideas of gifts that could be personalized with our logo. Please help!

Hi Jacqueline, Thanks for the question! Anniversaries are always fun events to promote. Here at Absorbent, Ink., we have a variety of promotional products that will please your guests and make them want to come back.

A simple and traditional gift to give is a box of chocolates. Make this gift a bit more unique by giving guests a box of truffles. A nine piece box is perfect to give to guests because there are enough chocolates for all guests in the room.
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There he is. 12-year-old David Wolf. The Harry Potter of “Sport Stacking.” I came across the cup stacking champion on ESPN while at lunch with some co-workers. It was either watch tennis or cup stacking, with cup stacking being the obvious choice.

The nerd I am, I initially wondered what type of cup they used. Was it a 16 oz stadium cup? Or a 20 oz fluted stadium cup? I did some research on SpeedStacks.com and found out they are textured differently than typical stadium cups and contain 3 holes in the bottom for less resistance. We have stadium cups, lots of stadium cups. If you want to make them official for Sport Stacking you can always drill some holes in them.

Mickey of the McFly 2015 project sent me a heads up about the footwear of Kanye West’s trademark bear on the cover of his upcoming album. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, best known for his Louis Vuitton work, designed the album packaging for Graduation, which is due out in September. Think Kanye can get Nike to produce a pair for him?

Kanye should make his bear into stress balls.

Finally a high-resolution, full-color image on a cup. The reason this plastic cup is so special is because it is printed flat then formed, whereas, most plastic cups are imprinted with silkscreen or rotary offset after they are formed. Use these cups to promote people (political candidates, artists, celebrities, sports teams), restaurants, theme parks, sporting events, grand openings, etc.

Also, they are good to use as a popcorn container, donation cup, ice cream cup, and even a flower pot!

Morgan Valentine of Nashville, TN surprised her husband with an Optimus Prime cake for his 30th birthday. “The thing is the size of a toddler (and I’m sure has more calories ^_^). It has brownie dirt complete with fondant grass and the body is made of cake and rice crispy treats.” I’m guessing it wasn’t cheap. I wonder how many paper plates they would need to serve that…

Birthday Party Favors