The World Cup Business

The world cup is big (very big) business as those of you who are soccer fans well know. Big sponsors fight for exclusive representation. See here the Germans’ ire over Budweiser taking over the world cup as official beer, and the hilarious episode of Netherlands fans having to drop their pants (literally) because of it). But while the big guns fight over their share of the humongous world cup cash cow, a flurry of smaller industries are also vying for profit.

I give you below some world cup “stationery” found on the net.
World Cup 06 Stationery

Cute! But are these really a “World Cup” exclusive? I mean these are just soccer ball shaped stationery items (from mini note pads, key chains, to pen holders) that could apply to any soccer events (yep even those played by the small soccer league my 6 years old son plays on Sunday). Now if these items the above had the actual FIFA 2006 world cup logo on them (see below).

NOW we’d be talking collector item. I’ bet some can be found but perhaps one needs to fly to Germany for that and.. oh well. Another world cup perhaps. I’ll stick to patriotic address labels featuring the country flag of my favorite team and perhaps a soccer ball.

Best Gift for Teachers

Every year this is one parents’ dilemma. And if like me, you send gift to your child’s teacher twice a year (end of year holidays and end of school year), then it becomes a bi-annual harder dilemma because you may not want to give the same gift twice. Some schools have set guidelines for gift to teachers, discouraging individual gifts and suggesting group gifts from the class. But even choosing the right group gift can be a challenge.

I asked the golden question to several female teacher friends of mine, i.e.: “What type(s) of gift do you like best from your pupils/parents”? The funny (almost) unanimous answer was: “Please no more soap-bath-lotion sets, or scented candles.” Seems like many female teachers in the US get dime a dozen of those (I wonder what’s the equivalent for male teachers) and although they probably make great recyclable gifts, they do take room in one’s closet many say. [laugh]

A favorite of late are the gift cards with credit cards logos (like Visa, or Master Card, American Express, or Discover, etc.) on them. One can’t miss with those as the teacher get to pick what s/he wants wherever s/he wants. One thing though, my teacher friends say, is that at times teachers would have to use such gift cards to buy things for the classroom (teachers’ salary are not in the high range in many places).

Another favorite, my teacher friends say, are personalized gifts. From personalized stationery sets, pictures, home decor items to other mementos, the market for personalized gifts is quite a big one (as Google would tell you). Personalized teacher’s gifts make a good impression, my teacher friends say, because it show that special attention was put into the choice.

In the end though, the really unanimously favorite gift among my teacher friends was the mementos created by the pupils themselves BY themselves. The old adage says: “…Teach the child to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. The biggest reward is when she brings a fish she caught herself to you.