The gift that ... keeps them guessing.

• Position: Corporate America - Brief article

We all have received quirky gifts from friends and family--but they are not the only ones who get creative in their giving. Some companies have presented premium items to current and prospective customers that are innovative, if not downright unusual.

The Creative Group, Menlo Park, Calif., a specialized staffing service providing marketing, advertising, creative, and web professionals on a project basis, recently asked 250 advertising and marketing executives, "What is the most unusual or unique premium item you've ever heard of a business distributing?" Here are some of their responses: "live snakes"; "rocks"; "umbrellas with holes in them"; and "candles that smelled like burning rubber"

"Most companies provide unique promotional items to reinforce their brands and encourage the use of their services or products," notes Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group. "Creative professionals, especially, enjoy receiving inventive premiums. The key is to make them memorable and useful. People should want to keep them." These next items certainly fit into the "useful"...