Brewery swag

Not like REI don't have more Nalgenes! In addition to water, they make good growlers for taking to the park.

 

I don’t buy branded stuff. Won’t buy a shirt hat bag etc with a company logo on it. Give it to me and I will use it if I like it. Why should I pay you to advertise for you? Sure, I own adidas sneakers, Nishiki bike( covered the downtube with tape so you can’t see the name). I can’t buy a car with no logo on it, I can buy a plain black tshirt or hat or bag or even water bottle.

There was a time that stickers were in cases of beer from different breweries. I remember Victory, Philadelphia brewing and some others. I have stuck a few stickers on my cooler, all were free. I have also removed some from breweries that did not do the right thing.

Enjoy

 

OP, do you like the free stickers and license plate holders that the car dealerships put on your car?

 

No business owes you anything other than a good product and good service. If either of these do not meet your standards take your business elsewhere. If any business gives you more than you asked for (free sticker, free fries, 10% discount for military/first responders/healthcare workers, etc), be thankful.

 

I don't expect anything from a brewery except what I pay for. If they want to give out stickers, great. If not, that's OK too. I've paid in the past, but now it's got to be a really different / cool design for me to actually shell out money - it does happen occasionally. I'll sometimes shell out for other "stuff," depending on what it is - I do have some magnets, bottle openers, glasses and so on - but I won't just buy it to buy it, it has to be something I'd be looking for anyway - certain glass styles, or opener types and so on.
I do have a collection of stickers, of course - I'll put some I really like on my main water bottle, a few more on my homebrew mashtun, plus I have plans on a bottlecap table, I might put stickers coasters as a base on that. Then I've got a stack of coasters, stickers and other swag that I have haven't gotten around to doing anything with - but I can't bring myself to throw away.

 

I seek out beer/brewery stickers for my beer fridge, and I find that about half the time breweries will give me stickers for free, and half the time they might charge me a dollar or so. I suppose the ones who give them out for free figure it's free advertising, but I don't mind paying for the stickers when they're for sale as I figure money went into making them after all. I understand your (the OP's) logic but figure the individual brewery can decide what is in their best interest for handling their own merchandise. Lots of breweries give them out for free (or will throw one in if you ask about them while buying a beer), so if you take issue with places selling them, then just try somewhere else--I'm sure you'll find free ones. If it's a brewery that I like though, then I don't mind supporting them a little more by paying for a sticker.