I’ve been getting some free stuff at work lately, so I thought I’d dedicate a post to some of the cool things I receive as part of my job. I get asked about it quite a bit.

Most of you have probably seen me mention that I work in advertising/media. My job basically entails taking a creative concept that the brand is working on, and figuring out the best ways to get it out to their target market. This involves choosing the media vehicle, such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet, billboards, events, grassroots marketing, word of mouth, posters, transit ads, sponsoring events/teams/days, etc.

Think of the brand logos and ads you see around you every day, and you’ll know that someone like me developed the plan to get that logo/ad there, and have YOU see it. Oh yes, dear readers. There is a very real possibility that today you fell prey to my ingenious advertising placements! Muahahahaha! Seriously, though. If you live in Canada, you have definitely seen the projects I have worked on, I can guarantee it. Anyone in other countries…well… you have probably seen stuff my international colleagues have had a hand in. Cool, eh?
There’s a lot more boring stuff involved with my job that I won’t bother to mention, so I’ll stick to the fun stuff. Because I get to play with millions of dollars all those media choices (magazines, TV stations, etc.) really want my business. This means that they’ll try to woo me with free lunches, swag bags, days at the spa, dinners and lavish parties with celebrities and random gifts throughout the year. It’s pretty frickin’ awesome, my friends.

I used to work in a different position at my old job, and it seems like I got more stuff then compared to what I’m doing now, but I think it’s just because I don’t know as many people on this side of the business yet. Anyway, I thought I’d get onto the cool things I’ve received over the years.

This month alone I have been fed breakfast, lunch and dinner several times, received a couple of pens, notebooks, a high-end hand lotion & scented candle, gourmet cookies and chocolates, gift card to Winners, copious amounts of alcohol, tickets to a VIP concert, baseball tickets, gone to an exclusive shopping party, won a $100 tech backpack and dynamo flashlight and a nice travel mug. Not a bad haul so far.

I also have some more parties coming up which I will probably get some more cool swag bags from. *Squee!*

Some of the more interesting things I’ve received over the years:
– PlayStation Portable system
– Portable DVD player
– Season 4 of 24 on DVD
– Glass wine decanter
– Glass water decanter
– Random gourmet maple syrup products
– $100 spa gift certificates
– Fine wines & cookbooks
– Oven mitts (Hell’s Kitchen promotion, baby!)
– Brian the dog bobble head from Family Guy
– Mugs, mugs and more mugs
– Popcorn bowl and snuggly blanket
– More candy/cookies/chocolate than I can count, or eat!
– Freeze-dried ice cream saucer
– Random DVDs
– Martini shaker & glasses
– Box seats for several concerts and sporting events
– Jackets, hats, scarves, umbrellas & shirts galore (I average 3(!!) umbrellas a year…)

There’s probably more things that I can’t remember, but that gives you a good idea of the weird and sometimes really nice stuff we media people get. This doesn’t even include the parties and events we get to go to. I’ll make a separate post for those 😉

So tell me, readers: What do you think about my job? Do you think being overworked and underpaid is a fair trade for all the perks I get? What do you think about the items themselves?

And what I would really like to know is: what kind of perks do you guys get at your jobs? Is it worth it? Have you ever received anything either totally luxe, or so random you don’t know what to do with it?

Do tell!