FEBRUARY 27, 2008

       Who wants a Coca-Cola mouse pad? What about a CNN coffee mug? Can I offer you a Microsoft T-shirt?

       If I were to give you all these items for free, you might want them. But if I said you had to buy these things from me, would you?

       If you wouldn’t do such a thing, have no fear, there are millions of others out there willing to spend their hard-earned money on advertising these corporate giants. Yes, people shell out cash to hock merchandise that promotes billion-dollar companies that aren’t hard up for funds.

       Head over to the CNN website and order a travel mug for US$12.99. Better yet, come to my place and I’ll write “CNN” on one of my coffee cups and sell if to you for $5. I won’t even charge you for shipping and handling. OK, I might charge you for the fill of coffee, but I’ll at least do that with a smile, unlike those billionaires at the corporate offices. Come to think of it, they smile when they realize you’re sinking your own money into spreading their brand.

       The argument can be made that if you “support” a company, you have no problem doing something like this. But my counterpoint is: These companies have a budget for advertising and they pay people to get out the word. It’s so backward that consumers gladly buy these products and not realize what they are doing.

       I get free things all the time from companies. Quite often it’s something with a company logo. I have no problem using it or wearing it because it didn’t cost me anything. Never would I buy something just because it has a company’s logo on it. That’s right, very little of my closet has Nike or Adidas or anything splashed across it.

       The day they start saying, “Heather Locklear, we want you to pay us to promote Clairol in commercials,” is the day I tattoo all over my body the logos of these money-making companies.