Foam Fingers Continue to Prove Their Effectiveness

[caption id="attachment_6165" align="alignnone" ]

By Associated Press (Ottumwa High School yearbook) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]Foam fingers and foam hands have been a popular sports spirit item since they were introduced in 1971 at a high school boys state basketball final. However, the first prototype wasn't made of foam. Instead, the giant foam finger at that game was made of hardware cloth and papier-mâché. Since then, many different manufacturing companies have been producing foam fingers and foam hand gestures in bulk. They have become a staple item at football and basketball games. However, foam fingers and foam hands aren't just for sports games. They have been very effectively used in advertising, as well as for other "unsanctioned" uses.

A Disgraceful Day For Foam Fingers

In 2013, the foam finger was disgraced by pop star Miley Cyrus. Her provocative use of the sports item was atop the media buzz during and immediately after her MTV Video Music Awards performance. Since the degrading demonstration of the foam finger by Cyrus, it has since been redeemed several times over in very successful marketing campaigns.

An Effective Advertising Campaign Using Foam Fingers

One of the successful advertising campaigns was from Winn-Dixie. They surrounded an entire marketing campaign around foam fingers. They used this popular sports icon to make their price drops a focal point for their ads and signage. The grocery store chain effectively used photos and outline drawings of foam fingers in digital ads, print ads, price decals, website banners, shelf signs, and display signage in their stores. Winn-Dixie was able to piggyback their 2016 advertising campaign on the huge popularity of these sports promotional products. Take a look at a few pictures showing the use of foam fingers in their advertising.

[gallery link="file" ids="5410,5405,5404,5402,5403,5401"]

Trump Thumbs Up Foam Hands

The most recent extremely successful use of foam hands was in the Donald J. Trump presidential campaign. He used the Thumbs Up Foam Hands so his supporters could show a thumbs up for Trump. He sold the set of 2 foam hands for $25. We give Trump 2 thumbs up for using a Made in the USA product and proudly displaying that on his campaign website. Pictured to the right, you'll see a photo of his thumbs up foam hands that he sold to supporters. They were easy to spot in the huge crowds at his rallies. These foam hands did a fantastic job promoting his campaign and raised a lot of revenue to continue advertising his presidential campaign. The potential of these giant foam fingers is only limited by your creativity. See all of the foam fingers and foam hand gestures here. Related Articles Top 3 Football Spirit Items How to Save Money When Shipping Bulk Foam Fingers Signs of Maturity in the Promotional Products Industry Whether You Like 'Em or Not, Give Them the Finger