Donn James
On the eve of Thanksgiving week I want to wish all or, at least, some of you a Happy Thanksgiving but if, instead of planning your holiday meal, you’re planning your shopping route for Black Friday, you’re off my list. Recently, while our attention span waned, corporate America turned Thanksgiving into a trip to the mall and far too many of you have abandoned the history of the day, not to mention the parade, in your search for bargains. Our national holiday, having been around now as an annual celebration pretty regularly since 1621, has been reduced to a frantic search for Tickle-Me Elmo. I’m all for capitalism but now it’s running amok like a hyperactive moose. On Wednesday you can assault someone and get jail time but if you do it in the mall on Black Friday…you get a blender. Why can’t businesses just have a fair price all the time? Why should anyone get a TV for twelve bucks just because they’re stupid enough to spend the night in a lean-to and sleeping bag in front of Kmart? And every year they have like fifteen TVs at that price so it always seems like the guy who is sixteenth in line is trying to figure out who he can get rid of to move up one in the line. The first fifteen people are never sure they’re safe so they are always looking over their shoulders at him. See, I think this is a reality show America could get behind. We could call it Black Friday Wars or Deadly Deals and contestants could battle to the death to win the right to buy the last Malibu Barbie. The old guy, whose only job is to say, “Welcome to WalMart” can be the referee because he’s the guy who is going to be sitting in the back of the store on his break later, while his Thanksgiving dinner will consist of him gumming down a turkey sandwich while sucking cranberry jelly threw a straw.
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird so you should all give thanks that you’re not having roasted eagle next Thursday because they don’t even have drumsticks. Thankfully, George Washington stepped up and said, “No, we need the eagle because it’s majestic and soars overhead. The turkey can’t even fly so they’re easier to catch and besides…I like turkey and it’s easier to chew with wooden teeth.” The first Thanksgiving was more or less a potluck and a peace offering to the Indians so they wouldn’t kill the pilgrims. Of course, the Indians brought deer, geese and corn while the pilgrims built a giant picnic table and brought smallpox and the plague. So it was fair. Over the years we’ve refined the menu, dropped most of the diseases, added great things like the green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup although occasionally we drop in a little salmonella. So cancel that visit to the mall because for the last 393 years or so, we’ve honored Thanksgiving by eating enough turkey to upset PETA, watching football and falling asleep on the couch with a piece of pumpkin pie on our lap. Then you wake up to find that your dog has eaten the pie, your team has lost and your pants are unbuttoned. It’s tradition!
It’s not really that different in business. Prices rise occasionally but for 2015 IMC has lowered more prices than we’ve raised and we’ll do everything we can to honor that price all year while we put your order together professionally and get it to you on time and on budget. You can move through our catalog from category to category and find many products that will accent your client’s event and we’ll get you what you want even if we have some suggestions on how to make it more rewarding. We’ll even send you samples. We want to help you make sense of your client’s request so we offer choices between new products and classic items so they can make presentations memorable. And IMC cares that your order is correct so we keep lots of products around that are suitable for your events but we’ll let you decide what works best for you and jump in to help you with decisions about products and decorations. The 2015 catalog is in post-production printing and it includes tons of new items from our collections and existing brands and some brand new retail brands. And if your client has invented a holiday or celebration, we can also custom-make almost anything you can dream to make your client’s event all it can be. Take a look at our YouTube channel to see some videos showcasing popular products for some ideas on how to use them. We take our business relationship seriously and we want you to enjoy, give and receive our products and be able to use them every day. We look forward to working with you and we always have ideas to make our products work for your clients. And all of our new 2014 items are visible in the
section of our website. The 2014 IMC catalog is also available virtually at Zoomcatalog.com if you’re tired of fighting paper catalogs. It can be viewed nicely with your laptop, iPad, tablet or phone. IMC is the recognized leader in the introduction of new retail brands to the promotional product industry and has multiple design awards from both ASI and PPAI. Since introducing Waterford® Writing Instruments and MoMA years ago, IMC has presented more than 40 retail brands from global suppliers to enhance the selections you can offer your clients. See great ideas and items from Fred & Friends, MOVA, Visconti and the IMC Collection. We invite you to browse any of our 2,500+ products on the IMC website to see items suitable for any occasion or event and pieces you can use to personalize your relationship with your clients. We have promotional products for every event, show, convention, corporate store and company program that will keep your client looking to you for new ideas. What do you think? Let us know with a comment here or on Facebook or Twitter. IMC wants to know…do you have time for a sandwich?
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