| You've just enjoyed a delicious meal at the | | | | advertising to the restaurant's customer base for |
| restaurant and your server has brought you the | | | | free. Again, ouch! |
| check. Typically the check is in a folder with the | | | | Why does this happen? Restaurants often don't |
| restaurant's name on it. Then you open the folder | | | | provide imprinted pens to servers for use by guests |
| and what do you find? A pen with an imprinted | | | | because they feel that the servers will swipe the |
| message for any place but the restaurant at which | | | | pens for use at home. So they make their servers |
| you are currently dining. | | | | provide pens for guests. Of course, the servers are |
| As someone who eats out at restaurants about 50 | | | | not going to invest in promoting the restaurant and |
| percent of the time due to my workstyle and | | | | use whatever pens they can get their hands on for |
| lifestyle--and because I'm a horrific cook!--I've had | | | | free from other local businesses. |
| ample opportunity to observe this marketing blunder. | | | | Or maybe there's a concern about the environment |
| Here's a sampling of the pens I have encountered | | | | and using too many plastic pens that may just get |
| while paying for my dining check: hospitals and | | | | thrown in the trash. Then a biodegradable pen made |
| doctors (Not good tie-ins with restaurants!), local | | | | from corn would be a great choice. A pen made |
| colleges, mechanics (Where was that pen used last?), | | | | from an edible crop... sounds like a great tie-in for a |
| banks, mortgage companies, churches, generic pens | | | | restaurant. |
| with chewed ends (Eeewww!), child care, and so | | | | Granted, when a restaurant buys imprinted |
| much more. However, the worst example is the pen | | | | promotional pens it is an expense. But when |
| from a competing restaurant. Ouch! What a hit to | | | | compared to the marketing damage done through |
| any restaurant's branding. | | | | the use of pens that have negative connotations or |
| Plus, when servers use pens for businesses other | | | | promote competitors, it is marketing money well |
| than the restaurant, the other businesses are getting | | | | spent. |