Branded Gifts for Easter

Branded gifts such as promotional Easter eggs are perfect for this time of year. However, it can sometimes get a little confusing as to when Easter actually is. Unlike other traditional holidays like Christmas, Halloween and Valentine's Day, Easter does not fall on the same date every year.

Just so you know this year (in the UK) Easter Sunday is on April 8th, so now is a good time to start preparing for those Easter promotional campaigns. Where did the name 'Easter' come from? The word 'Easter' comes from the word 'Eostre' - it was a Pagan tradition to use this word, however 'Eostre-monath' was the Anglo-Saxon word for April (the month of openings).

Why are Easter eggs given out? There has become a tradition for one to give a chocolate egg to someone they are close to (a family member, friend, etc) around Easter time... these are often known as Easter eggs. Easter eggs are given out as the egg represents new life. For Christians at least, the dawn of Easter Sunday with its message of new life is considered to be a high point of the year. The chocolate eggs we give out nowadays haven't always been a tradition.

The first type of eggs given at Easter were birds eggs that were painted in bright colours. The bird eggs were painted in bright colours to give the eggs further meaning as a gift, as let's face it giving someone a plain bird egg isn't very appealing. It wasn't until chocolate became more widespread in the 20th Century that a chocolate version of the traditional painted egg was developed.

As you can probably tell by looking on the shop shelves in the run-up to Easter, the size of the chocolate egg has grown over the years. It's strange how people go crazy for chocolate eggs around Easter time, yet wouldn't normally be fazed by them any other time. It's said that around 80 million chocolate eggs are eaten each year... and that's just in Britain.

As Easter (in the Christian tradition) marks the end of lent (the fasting period), Easter is treated like Christmas in terms of food portions. Boiled eggs, Roast lamb, custard tarts and Easter biscuits are all popular foods to eat on Easter Sunday. Eggs usually for breakfast, Roast lamb for dinner and custard tarts and Easter biscuits for pudding.

Luckily Easter also allows many people to have a few days off work and school as well (Easter holidays). Children usually get a week or two off whereas the parents usually just get Easter Monday off (possibly Good Friday too if their lucky). Either way, this time off is a fantastic opportunity for companies to promote and advertise themselves with branded gifts to people who would normally be 'out of the loop' at work or school. A small tip: There is a range of branded gifts (perfect for Easter campaigns) that children and adults alike will go crazy for over the Easter holidays on our website.