Promotional Wristbands – For Charity, Fund Raising or Events
There are certain branded products which go from zero interest to a global phenomenon in a short space of a few years. Silicone gel bracelets are one of them. Who knows who invented them? I do know they have been available as a custom promotional product for decades now and then all of a sudden in the past 10 years their popularity has absolutely sky rocketed. Not just with kids neither but with celebrities and politicians as well.
Silicone wristbands resemble gigantic elastic rubber bands (except with a lot less stretch). They are a lot smoother of course so getting them on and off your wrist is quite easy. These wristbands are low in cost, come in virtually any shade of desired colour and are normally branded using methods such as:
– Printed Wristbands (simply pad printed using a machine) with spot colours of your choice for your logo or message
– Embossed – where your logo is etched into the surface creating a 3 dimensional feel
– Debossed – not as popular due to the minimum order amounts required but it basically allows your logos to be on a raised surface.
– Digitally printed – not popular although full colour prints are possible the results generally don’t look as nice
What made this humble cheap wristband really take off when charitable organisations thought it was a great idea to take this wristband and make it cool. Marketers used this simple wristband and the fact that it came in colours and ran with the idea to use them as a fund raising and awareness product. Wristbands are by its nature a youthful product and it is an item that can be worn every day and importantly be seen by others too! Did I say this product was cheap? Not only are they low in price but they are easily transported around events too. This made it a perfect fund raising product. Afterwards all it took was some sports stars wearing the product and supporting the cause and it became an instant hit.
Some of the charities associated with the rubber wristband include:
1) Racism awareness campaign (seemingly by Nike but I may be incorrect on this one). This wristband came in a set of 2 in black and white (for obvious reasons) and was championed by international sports stars like Thierry Henry (Arsenal Soccer legend)
2) Breast Cancer Awareness – In a pink colour of course. But this campaign has literally a dozen associated products with it
3) SmokeFree – Orange coloured aimed at teenagers about the dangers of smoking
4) LiveStrong – A yellow coloured wristband by the charity set up by Lance Armstrong
5) Lady Gaga Born This Way promoting positive body image and confidence with slogans such as “be yourself,” “be kind,” “be amazing,” amongst other uplifting slogans.
These are but 4 of the literally dozens of causes this wristband has been used to support. Each cause having its own colour all to itself. These wristbands have also been known to be used as political fund raisers as well. The popularity of these cheap wristbands simply cannot be overstated. Virtually every celebrity that has ever endorsed a charitable campaign at one point in time would have directly or indirectly championed these things from Matt Damon, Oprah Winfrey, Obama, George Clooney to name but a few. At the moment there are still many colours which have not yet been affiliated with any charities. (just email me which ones) This means that if you have an established charity or thinking of new fund raising possibilities there are still plenty of unique colours to choose from to make you “own” your charity colour for these wristbands.
Just in case you were not aware wristbands typically come in sizes from kids sizes to adults medium and adults large. Realistically though the medium size tends to fit both kids as well as adults alike. Find out more about promotional bracelets by checking out our products! We stock most colours and if you want something totally unique (like a grey colour for example) chances are we can have one coloured for your event. Oh I may not have mentioned it but these wristbands really are cool. Wear them with tee shirts or singlets and their colour is awesome. Wear them with suits and business shirts and they say a lot about the wearers attitude towards a cause.
