Last week at a conference I got a bag full of swag. It’s a business conference reality that would be more welcome if companies thought a little harder about what they’re putting their logo on. (Imagine thinking of something so cool, people don’t even consider it swag!)

Anyway, this one from Veolia Environmental Services put the frosting on the swag cake. It’s an energy saving light bulb made of foam.

I’ll repeat that: It’s an energy saving light bulb made of foam — from an environmental services company.

It does nothing but sit there with a logo, website, and phone number in tiny red print. Do you think it will emit a faint, muted glow if I screw it into a socket? It’s not an eraser, and I can’t give it to my dogs because they’ll rip it to shreds and eat it, causing further injury to the environment within hours. This thing is of absolutely no use. It would have been more environmentally conscious to give nothing at all.

I confess, however, that I may be speaking too soon. After all, their tagline is “turning waste into a resource.” Perhaps they’ve got a plan to turn this bad idea into a good one, but as far as I can tell, it’s just more landfill.

What do you think? Got any swag gripes? Love to read about ‘em.

Have a good one.