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Strategy February 22, 2019

U.S. Promo Supplier Makes Conference Table Pads For Trump/Kim Hanoi Summit

Meanwhile, screen-printed T-shirts featuring images of the leaders are among the merch hitting the market in Hanoi.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Last year, when President Donald Trump and North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un met in Singapore for a historic summit on nuclear disarmament, there were promotional products to mark the event. Indeed, supplier Dacasso (asi/48125), working through a distributor, even created the official debossed branded conference table pads for the meeting:

Now, with Trump and Kim set to meet again on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi, branded merchandise connected to the summit is coming to the fore – and Dacasso is again in the mix.

The Florida-based supplier will be supplying similarly-styled conference table pads for the meeting, which is being closely watched by leaders around the world:

Dacasso Sales Representative Adam Stein told Counselor that Dacasso worked through the same Washington D.C.-area distributor on this order as on the first summit deal. “They loved the products the first time around and wanted the same high quality for the second summit,” said Stein, noting about 24 pads have been produced. There were some challenges in getting the artwork just right on the rush order, but it came good. “We went back forth about a half-a-dozen times, but in the end we arrived at something all sides were happy with,” Stein said.

While the conference pads will be for those at the summit, promotional products for the people are making their way onto the streets of Hanoi.

As Reuters and other media outlets report, T-shirt designer/shop owner Truong Thanh Duc, a Hanoi local, has been selling T-shirts screen-printed with images of Trump and Kim in anticipation of the summit.

One T-Shirt says “Good Morning Vietnam” and features Trump’s visage. Another says “Peace” and shows images of Trump and Kim, with “Hanoi Vietnam – 2019” printed underneath. A third shirt says “Rocket Man” – a somewhat disparaging nickname Trump once used for Kim – with an image of Kim. You can see the shirts here.

Duc said part of his motivation for making the tees, of which he has reportedly sold hundreds, is that he looks up to both leaders. “One is the leader of the most technologically advanced country in the world and the other leader, although a bit extreme, has realized his people are too poor and he wants his nation to develop,” Duc told Reuters.

There’s an altruistic angle to Duc’s summit shirts: He plans to use profits from sales to buy baguettes for Hanoi’s poor. Baguettes are popular in Hanoi; Vietnam was formerly a French colony.

Duc’s T-shirts are just one example of how Hanoi is abuzz with anticipation of the Trump/Kim summit. Streets are being “spruced up” and businesses are trying to cash in on the meeting, Reuters said. Bars, for instance, are reportedly selling drinks called “Kim Jong Ale” and “Peace Negroniations.” Meanwhile, a Hanoi barber is offering free Trump and Kim haircuts.

We’ll keep an eye out for other merch that may come to the fore as the two leaders prepare to sit down for talks.