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Strategy May 24, 2018

Promotional Products and the #RedforEd Movement

By  Christopher Ruvo

Teachers are seeing red – and they want the public and politicians to do so too. In that, there could be opportunity for the promotional products industry.

We’ll explain:

The #RedforEd or #WearRedforPublicEd campaign involves teachers across the United States wearing red as part of a solidarity movement in support of public education.

The initiative advocates for things such as fair pay for teachers, adequate funding for education programs and supplies, appropriate spending per student and more. The movement has included public demonstrations, like the large one in Raleigh, NC, last week and others in Michigan in recent weeks, including a teacher ‘walk-in’ in Charlotte, MI, on Wednesday.

Distributors can play a key role in supporting the movement – and realize sales in so doing. The teachers and their supporters want to be highly visible, and they have definite messages to convey. Promo products are excellent vehicles for achieving both those aims. T-Shirts, buttons, pins, signs, hats, wristbands, all done in red with pro public education messages, could prove useful, cost-effective items for communicating the campaigning teachers’ goals. Certainly, advocates are already using such items:

Teachers sporting T-Shirts in support of the #RedforEd movement at a recent rally in North Carolina.

Promo distributors interested in getting involved should consider connecting with leaders in local teacher unions or statewide educators’ associations that support #RedforEd. The Michigan Education Association is one example. With the pressure public education has been under in recent years, #RedforEd doesn’t figure to conclude anytime soon. That could lead to ongoing sales. And, perhaps more importantly if you’re a public education advocate, a sense that you’ve helped propel a worthy cause.

 

From the Wear Red for Ed Facebook page.

From the Wear Red for Ed Facebook page.

From the Wear Red for Ed Facebook page.