According to ‘legend’ the promotional bug was first conceived in Oklahoma in 1976 when a ball of cotton wool was inadvertently dropped on to a feet-shaped sticker. The rest as they say, is history.
Originally called ‘Weepuls’, they were imported to the UK as ‘Logo Bugs’ and immediately flew off the shelves. There was a boom in the 80’s after the item became mass produced in UK & Holland. One source for the poms actually dates back to the 1880’s where they were manufactured as pom poms for slippers.
At one point, ‘pom-making’ received national acclaim after appearing on ‘The Generation Game’ with Larry Grayson & Isla St Claire. Largely due to an ITV strike, the show received viewing figures of over 25 million, not bad considering X-Factor receives about 10 million viewers on an average Saturday night.
Marketing Director Steve Burge says; “To me, this item epitomises our industry, taking a simple item of appeal, then branding it with a targeted advertising message to increase its longevity”.
In true form, the promotional bug remains one of the most successful promotional products around, with many Charities adopting it as a reciprocal gift for a donation or given free to increase awareness. Local Authorities and Emergency services use them to advise help lines and their kooky retro value lend themselves to the adulation of the Student market!
BH1’s Bugs are made in the UK and come in literally 100’s of different characters, pom, feet & tag colours which are now printed up to CYMK as standard thanks to new digital technology.
Last year over one billion Bugs were sold worldwide, proving that even in a recession, these furry little critters are back with a vengeance! Love’em or hate’em, they provoke a reaction.
There’s just something about those ‘goggle eyed’ fur balls that make them very hard to throw away!