Why Promo Products Are Surprisingly Good for the Planet

Study: The Carbon Impact of Branded Merchandise

When it comes to ads that truly connect with consumers, promo’s carbon footprint is actually eight times smaller than digital.

Why Promo Products Are Surprisingly Good for the Planet

New study shows branded merch can be both effective and low-carbon, compared to mainstream ad channels.

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1. Promo Beats the Usual Assumptions about Carbon Footprint

Most marketers assume that digital ads must be greener than physical products. No factories, no shipping, no materials, right? But new research challenges that idea. A third-party study commissioned by PPAI, ASI and European partners finds that promo products often generate much less carbon per memorable impression than digital advertising and several traditional media.

“Promo’s carbon impact per memorized impression is actually eight times smaller than digital advertising,” the study finds — even though promo involves physical items.

2. How These Findings Were Measured

The study compared promotional products like branded T-shirts, drinkware and other merch against five major advertising media:

Out-of-home (billboards, transit ads)
Digital ads (social, display, search)
TV
Radio
Print

Using life-cycle principles and real sales data from large U.S. and European promo distributors, researchers calculated carbon emissions relative to “memorized impressions”; essentially how effectively each channel builds brand recall.

3. What Promo Does Better (and Why It Matters)

Here’s what stood out:

Low carbon per memorized impression: Promo was one of the lowest-impact channels, second only to out-of-home ads.
Per campaign: Branded merch had much lower CO₂ per campaign than digital or TV.
Per dollar spent: Promo and digital were about even.
Long-lasting exposure: Items people keep and use spread their impact over months or years, so their footprint per impression drops compared with short-lived ads.

Companies interviewed in the study pointed out that promo items do more than just exist, they become useful, lasting parts of daily life, improving both brand recall and carbon efficiency.

4. Digital Isn’t As “Invisible” As You Might Think

The study also reminds us that digital advertising has “hidden” carbon costs (data centers, AI computing, streaming energy and infrastructure you don’t see when an ad loads on screen). Those all add up.

This flips a common assumption: digital may feel clean because it’s intangible, but it still relies on power-hungry systems behind the scenes.

5. Promo Is a Strategic, Sustainable Channel, Not Just a “Tactic”

Industry leaders call this study an important turning point because we finally have data to back up what many marketers have felt intuitively: promo can deliver real impact and be environmentally responsible.

That means:

Promo can be a core part of net-zero advertising strategies
Sustainability claims in marketing can be backed by measurable carbon data
Brands have new reason to elevate merch in strategic media mixes

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Bottom Line

Branded merchandise isn’t just a fun extra, but a cost-efficient, memorable, and relatively low-carbon channel for brand impact. This research gives promo a data-backed place in conversations about sustainable marketing.