A few weeks ago I made a call for swag and you guys delivered. I’ve got a stack of koozies, stickers, and other gear that I’ll be featuring, two at a time, on the blog. Hopefully, with my super-scientific analysis, we’ll spark some ideas for sweet swag to line-up for next season. If you missed the first round, check it out here.

The Criteria
I’m going to judge the swag on four areas and give a score for each to determine a winner:

• Cool – would I actually want to use it?
• Useful – is it something I could use on a regular basis?
• Branding – do I know it’s tied to a certain resort?
• Unique – how common is this sort of swag?

With a score of 1-10 on each, we’ll end up with a score out of 40. Onward.

Contestant #1 – Mountain Creek
Shred It if You Can

A parody of Mad River Glen’s famous “Ski It If You Can” bumper stickers, Mountain Creek shows their love for snowboarders with this idea.

• Cool: 8 – probably not something I’d put on my car, even though I snowboard, but still cool.
• Useful: 4 – bumper stickers are never really high on the useful scale, but this is a clever idea
• Branding: 9 – the slogan is the resort’s name, hard to forget Mountain Creek on this one
• Unique: 3 – parodies, by definition, aren’t very unique, but you still have to have the idea to parody something
• TOTAL: 24

Contestant #2 – Copper Mountain
I Pity the Fool! Bumper Sticker

Bias alert: I am a big fan on the phrase “I pity the fool.” In a high school English class, our entire class would stand on the desks and say “I pity the fool who made this test!” before each mid-term. A classy tradition I observed (usually to a less obvious degree) with every test in high school and college ever since. So, when I saw this sticker, I instantly like it.

• Cool: 8 – how can Mr T not be cool?
• Useful: 2 – maybe even lower on the useful scale, it is an orange bumper sticker after all
• Branding: 9 – if it didn’t rhyme, I’d score this lower, but the catch phrasing makes it more memorable
• Unique: 6 – it’s the only time I’ve seen “pity the fool” on a bumper stick, that’s gotta count for something
• TOTAL: 25

Winner: Copper Mountain
Once again, the edge goes to Copper Mountain. I do like the idea of using the Mad River Glen saying, but I wonder if some might not be too keen on their beloved sticker being copied. On the other hand, Mr T is made to be mimicked. I like the positive message (carpooling) and clever rhyme. This was a close one though. Being a judge isn’t as easy as it looks.

Want your resort’s swag included in the next round? Either email a picture to me at contact@slopefillers.com or, if you have some to share, mail those goodies to:

Gregg Blanchard
506 Crazy Horse Circle
Edwards, CO 81632

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.