Hand sanitizers become popular item given to employees, Advertising Specialty Institute says

TREVOSE, Pa. The Advertising Specialty Institute on Wednesday announced that hand sanitizers now rival pens as one of the most popular logoed items that companies are giving away to clients and employees.

Searches of the key words “hand sanitizers” by promotional products distributors via the Advertising Specialty Institute’s promotional products database jumped 439% for the 12 months ended October 2009. Only searches for pens — which for years have been the best-selling logoed product in the promotional products industry — were higher over that period.

“Certainly, there’s been a dramatic increase in sales of sanitizer sprays, gels and other anti-bacterial products,” stated Larry Wilhelm, CEO of Custom HBC, one of the many suppliers of customized health and beauty care products for the promotional products field.

Sales of all logoed sanitizing products surged in early spring, and then again in September, at the start of flu season, Wilhelm said. Sales of flu-related items, like facial tissues, have also increased.