International Balloon Month
September 2011

International Balloon Month was celebrated all over the world in 2011

The campaign to celebrate balloons in September began early in the year with press releases to industry magazines and associations around the world. The response was fantastic as sister associations in the UK, Australia, and Europe shared the message with their members while media outlets announced it in their publications. The IBA Web site saw increased viewership with new requests for the IBA Newsletter from the US and abroad.
 
In the US, manufacturers and distributors embraced the campaign with manufacturers kicking off promotional pricing of Smiley Face products to distributors beginning in July. Distributors then provided special promotions to their decorator, retailer and entertainer customers from July through the end of September. These customers then went out to the public with bouquet specials, surprise deliveries, Smiley Face appreciation gifts, and stores filled with Smile Face Balloons and Accessories all in the name of promoting balloons for life's celebrations throughout the month of September. 

The Balloon Council (TBC) also celebrated September with a campaign to raise awareness with retailers reminding them to individually weight helium-filled foil balloons. With support from Premium Balloon Accessories and Control Plastics, TBC mailed 1200 50ct bags of balloon weights to retailers in Illinois, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and New York with each bag containing a reminder of International Balloon Month and instruction on properly weighting and disposing of helium-filled foil balloons. These states were chosen because of existing legislation against balloons while an additional 1200 bags of balloon weights were mailed to existing Responsible Balloon Retailers.  

In the UK, the balloon industry association BAPIA kicked off a "Green" campaign in September to educate children on the properties and processing of natural latex balloons and their safety to the environment.