Promotional Keyrings – the number 2 best selling promotional Item ever.

Trying to quantify how many Promotional Keyrings have been manufactured since the invention of the key would be a very inexact science. It must run into many billions of pieces of promotional Merchandise when you consider that almost every adult on the planet who lives anywhere with a solid front door will require one at some time.

The first promotional keyrings would have been made from wood or metal and almost certainly would have been connected with a business or even a church. Before locks were invented they would not have been necessary and by the time locks began to appear only the most wealthy could afford them and indeed only the most wealthy would need them.

Up to around 25 years ago the most common type of metal promotional keyring would have  been the printed metal keyring which would usually be mounted on a leather fob. These leather keyrings were handed over every time a new car was purchased and kept for many years after. Nowadays promotional leather keyrings are still manufactured but only very few are made with high quality leather that would stand the test of time. Bonded leather promotional keyrings are more commonly used these days as the costs of them are so much lower than the real thing. Manufacturers of these types of promotional keyrings even use scented oils during the making to make them smell like the real thing.

These days the vast majority of promotional keyrings are made from plastic. The reason for this is entirely to do with the cost of the base materials and the simplicity with which they can be moulded. One standard moulding machine could easily produce 50,000 keyrings per day. Many manufacturers of plastic promotional keyrings have dozens of machines running at the same time thereby making literally millions of pieces per week. These plastic promotional keyrings usually have paper inserts inside them which allows the promotional merchandise companies to create unlimited designs and print colours. Large companies such as estate agents or travel firms send out tens of thousands of these as promotional gifts every year. Because plastic is so light these promotional keyrings can even be used as magazine cover mounts or as mailers through the post. Companies such as supermarkets give them away with bar codes printed on them as part of a loyalty scheme.

Moulded novelty keyrings are also very popular. You can be sure that every time a new Disney  film is launched the promotional merchandise that goes with it is always there right behind it. Promotional keyrings in the shape and look of the film’s characters will be flooding the shops and amusement parks very quickly because every child wants a memento and promotional moulded keyrings re the leas expensive option.

The last section of promotional keyrings are the more practical one such as Trolley Coin Keyrings or Keychain lights. These have a very practical use and supermarkets in particular have picked dup on that. You can often see charities selling these metal trolley keyrings in boxes on the counter of local shops.