{"id":158069,"date":"2023-08-23T16:34:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=158069"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:55","slug":"from-sunglasses-to-stress-balls-and-water-bottles-goodies-given-away-en-masse-on-campus-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/08\/23\/from-sunglasses-to-stress-balls-and-water-bottles-goodies-given-away-en-masse-on-campus-day\/","title":{"rendered":"From sunglasses to stress balls and water bottles: ‘goodies’ given away en masse on Campus Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eurekaweek is keen to move with the times and do its bit for sustainability. Which is why organisations and partners are not allowed to hand out flyers. A tour of the market, however, scores a bag full of plastic fans and sunglasses, a thermometer and even a bottle of sriracha mayonnaise.<\/p>\n

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Bonus tip: you can try to get free gadgets at the campus day market.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Not having any flyers on your stand to promote your message is a bit inconvenient, or so it seems after a round of the information market where student organisations introduce themselves to first-year students. \u201cActually, we just have a few pens and a plasticised QR code\u201d, says Denyse Paalvast (24) from the Spoedeisende Hulp Studentenorganisatie (SEHSO, Emergency Medicine Student Organisation), standing in front of her rather bare table. \u201cStudents can scan it and find information, but it still feels a bit more impersonal than handing out flyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

An outright giveaway of plastic \u2018goodies\u2019 and \u2018gadgets\u2019 in tote bags seems to be the norm to attract new students. Walk around the market for an hour and you will have picked up five new pairs of sunglasses, eight pens, socks for the rest of the week, bottle openers for the whole house and enough condoms to avoid contracting an STD for the rest of your student life. Other popular gifts include fans, stress balls, water bottles and decks of cards. In the more creative category are a thermometer, a biscuit tin and a chopping board. All bearing logos. Handy for branding, but also easily forgotten or thrown away. The ABN-AMRO stand has twelve pairs of plastic slippers and a fluorescent green bathrobe. At one of the student associations, it even looks like a supermarket, with dozens of neatly arranged bottles of sriracha mayonnaise and tins of shaving cream that can be won in a game of darts.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

At the Coolblue stand, flyers are handed out, along with beer mats and socks. \u201cFlyers are really old-fashioned, but they do work\u201d, says staff member Caitlyn Driedijk (24). \u201cThey end up in student houses and on tables, and that\u2019s where they get read again. I think companies have other things to consider. Besides, the socks we give away can be used for years to come. In that respect, that really is sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the various associations, there are also organisations that use goodies and gadgets to raise awareness of important issues. GGD employee Tachmille de Gouveia Brazao, 36, explains: \u201cWe raise awareness about issues such as STDs and HPV vaccinations through personal conversations. That\u2019s the best way to get the message across.\u201d As for the dozens of sunglasses on the table, Tachmille says they are \u2018genuinely recyclable and functional\u2019, but above all, they are a \u2018friendly reminder\u2019 of the GGD municipal health organisation.<\/p>\n

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The stress ball is popular to hand out.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Adverse effect <\/h2>

The no-flyer policy can have an adverse effect when it comes to recruiting new members, according to Mila (20) and Liza (24) of the Neverless student hockey club. \u201cThe policy is not terrible\u201d, admits Mila, standing in front of a table with temporary tattoos, water bottles and a stack of green plastic sunglasses. \u201cI\u2019m all for sustainability. But it\u2019s a shame we can\u2019t even hand out a sticker with our logo because of the plastic on the back. Without information on paper, people are likely to forget you sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of free stuff being handed out here\u201d, says Lisa, sceptical about the market\u2019s sustainability credentials. \u201cWe were just joking about our shopping bag here behind our stand. It\u2019s full of plastic sunglasses that we still had lying around and we\u2019re just giving them away here. But yes, nobody wears them for more than a day.\u201d Their conclusion: these kinds of items are just for fun; however, a \u2018cheerful chat\u2019 tends to make the best impression on new students.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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