Must Read | Distributors United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as a potential geopolitical crossroads. The 17 environmental and social targets (specific metrics to define cleaner water or reduced inequality, among others) were adopted by all member nations in 2015. Currently none of the targets appears likely to be met. “Is there a reason to have promotional articles?” Rüfenacht asks. “That’s the point that we are talking about here. At some point, the legislation will kick in, and we’ll forbid it.” And there’s the reason to tell this story rather than one about the other 99 distributors on the list. PPAI is committed to ensuring that the industry’s progress is known, and the Association is ready to shape any legislation that would pose a threat. But we must all know the risks of not taking steps together toward responsibility. *** Thankfully, PPAI is not alone in its advocacy. Count Baumgaertner among those who would prefer his livelihood to not be outlawed. He has become a champion for preserving the medium’s history. He was the driving force behind the Museum of Promotional Articles exhibition, which debuted at the PSI show in Düsseldorf in January, and he is currently working on a book project detailing promo’s past, present and hopeful future. This kind of advocacy is something he views as necessary to elevate the industry. Like sustainability, it doesn’t need to be his ultimate passion to make it worthwhile. He conducts our second interview from his Audi hybrid. But during that conversation, he tells me he would never call himself an “eco guy.” “I’m not growing my own stuff in my garden and only using the bike,” he says. His commitments may be good for the planet, but they are also just pragmatic business, and only part of the story that Baumgaertner is selling to clients. “Whenever we think about something new, we’re always trying to be the leader,” he says of Cybergroup. “Maybe not on sustainability, but in every other aspect, the leading companies in the U.S. are much more professional, because they’re much bigger. But I think the whole industry has cyber-Wear opened a new, sustainabilitycentered office as its base in Mannheim, Germany, in 2019. 60 • JUNE 2024 • PPAI
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