Packages, Premiums, Publicity

"Publicity, please!" Individuals and companies are forever sending press kits to media outlets, always in the hope that someone will find their products/services of sufficient interest for a story.
Often, the companies simply send slick folders with the company's name on the outside. Inside are press releases and pictures of the product, sometimes with a CD containing publicity stills and other information.
However, some companies send samples. We wait for the sample boxes, and a dizzying array of goods have crossed our desks. We've received candy, cookies, plastic wrap, foil, posters, potting soil and seeds in press kits. If it can be legally mailed, chances are, we've received it in a press kit.
I have a decent coffee grinder at home, courtesy of the Folger's company. When they introduced whole-bean coffee a few years ago, we got two press kits, each with a grinder. I arranged to get one of them. I also have a cute Chick-Fil-A stuffed cow that came in a kit, and one department has had their calendars posted for the past couple of years.
Most recently, one of the shipping companies had a package from Disney Publications. They were a little leery of the brown cardboard box and wanted to know if I knew what was up. I looked at the box. On one side, a substance that looked like red ink or paint, stained the side. I was mystified as well, but then smelled it. Nail polish. Red nail polish--dry, fortunately. I took the box to my desk, and opened it gingerly. I don't know what marketing major at Disney thought sending nail polish was a good idea. Cute, but not a workable idea. Anyway, the box held a little plastic pouch, with four colors of nail polish, each promoting a teen girls' book to be published. Unfortunately, the bottle of red nail polish had broken and spilled all over the pouch and consequently, the box. As luck would have it, there actually were three usable colors in the package, so those bottles went home with me. I never cease to be amazed at the things people will mail as marketing tools.
One of the best kits contained a tiny cutting from an evergreen tree, a little pot for planting, and even soil. The seedling was cute, but the prize in that gift was a Christmas tree ornament. It was wooden, in the shape of a birdhouse, with a black roof that proclaimed in white letters: "See Rock City." It has made it on the Christmas tree every year since. It's one of my favorite ornaments.
We're always on the lookout for boxes that don't contain microfilm. It's always an adventure to see what the marketing people have decided to send us next.