If it wasn’t for the US Armed Forces, men would probably still be taking a trip to the barber shop for a shave every few days. Why? Because during World War I, to supply all of its troops the U.S. government ordered 3.5 million disposable razors and 36 million blades from a new company called Gillette.

As marketers, when we are focused on our product we often put the blinders on and forget about how our customers actually consume our product, with other complimentary products.

On a recent trip to the supermarket I picked up this jug of milk to find an Oreo’s ad on the side, reminding me of probably the best example of complimentary product advertising there is.

Travelling through South America I have been exposed to more Che Guevara products than I care to remember. But the fact that the image of socialist revolutionary Che Guevara has been used as a capitalist tool to sell everything from t-shirts, to beers, to condoms, must have Che rolling over in his grave.

After having worn the same pair of Nike sneakers day-in-day-out for the last 9 months while backpacking around South America, I am in desperate need of some new shoes.

So this week I went out shoe shopping in downtown Lima, Peru. And despite not being able to find anything to fit my US13 size feet (let’s be honest…Peruvians aren’t the tallest people), I did manage to notice something interesting.

ALL major sports footwear brands are swallowing the co-branding pill, from Nike/Apple to Puma/Ducati to Adidas/Goodyear. And while we are being honest, I have to say that I can’t fault any of these co-branding efforts.