Promotional products for the beach

Since one week I’m in Barcelona, spending my time between the swimmingpool, the beach of Casteldelfels and the offices of Horizonsources SL in el Prat. Horizonsources is buying a new building as actual buildings are to small for both production and administration. The investment is big so we are spending quit a lot of time checking the next 5 years plans. Laying on the beach, I wondered about the promotional products on and for the beach.

I remember, when I was a small kid with my parents on the beach, once or twice a day a small very noisy airplane came along the beaches of Normandy with behind the plane a long banner with publicity for a local newspaper, the Cabourg Casino etc.
It was a hapening on the beach! Many people stood up to see the plane, for sure the message was seen by all the people on the beach. great impact, and in 1975 such publicity was seen as a distraction not an agression.

Now that I work since 15 years in the promotional products industry I’m interested in every product that can promote or vehicle a logo. Which promotional products have impact today on the beaches?
Of course I saw the traditional items for the beach : Towels, Bags, all kind of inflatable games, Umbrellas etc. Nothing really exiting to my eyes.
So this morning back in the Horizon office I googled around on the web to see if any one had made lately a really new and innovative promotional product for the beach.
the idea from KEOL in France is good and there is a real need for such items on the beaches too : pocket ashtrays.

But the logo will only been seen by the user himself, so visual impact will be low.
I like the idea of this double game :

But again the impact is far away from the airplane in Normandy. Although I know we can not really compare the comotion created by the airplane with the impact of any promotional item but I’m astonished there is not a more exiting promotional item for the beaches.

The only other product I have in mind for the beach was invented by Cleopatra in old Egypt!! Yes this cuty already new how to make her autopromotion. Her name was embossed in the sole of her sandals, in such a way that everywhere were she walked you could see her name pressed in the sand.
A few years ago this idea was présented in the Promotional products market in the US before it came to Europe. Funny annecdote is that one producer tried to get a patent on these embossed sandals, but he lost in court as it was a 4000 years old idea. It was not a new invention.

Many companys propose this item now, in different shapes and qualities.

To see a selection of promotional sandals : www.ideagroup.net