Here’s the thing: if you’re going to give out free t-shirts, you might as well make it worth everyone’s while by getting a good sampling of sizes. Why? Well, nobody wants to walk out of the house wearing a shirt two sizes too big. And why does that matter? Ah, well you see, giving out free t-shirts is really a marketing AND advertising thing, or at least it should be.

First you start off with the marketing ploy: lure people in with the promise of free t-shirts. This draws their interest and creates hype around your brand. Most organizations have this down, but here’s where they go wrong – instead of offering everyone a reasonable-size t-shirt, they decide to go the easy way and order all the same size. The one size fits all approach just doesn’t work.

What ultimately happens is that the second part, the advertising part, doesn’t happen! If they had given most people a size that actually fit them, these people could add the shirt to their wardrobe and actually wear it out. Every time they put on the shirt it’s a free walking advertisement for you. Whether it’s people noticing your brand being worn a lot or them asking the wearer a question about it because of a striking design, it’s good news for you. At the least the person is reminded of your brand every time they put it on.

Instead, you pass out all XLs because most people can fit them and then only the XL people ever do wear them. All the rest of us stuff that shirt somewhere in the closet, or only bring it out for sleeping in. Your shirt never sees the public eye again and it becomes another bit of wasted fabric, not appreciated or recognized. Sure, it’s not as efficient to give people the size they want, but that extra bit of effort can lead to a long happy life filled with attention for your precious tees. Don’t you want that over being forgotten or even torn up for rags?

So that’s my theory on how giving free t-shirts is actually a bit of a science, with a formula to follow. I know that my XL from the Apple Store doesn’t get wear time like my M from the Sony Store! The formula of “right size, cool design” works for me and I bet it works for most of the world too.