Top 40 supplier IMAGEN Brands, parent company of Crown Products (asi/47700) and Vitronic (asi/93990), is honoring industry icon Fran Ford with a new, cuddly product.

As a tribute to Ford’s memorable greeting “Hey, Buddy!,” the supplier has created the Hey Buddy Bear, designed with hearts on its paws, a “Hey Buddy” imprinted T-shirt and a hang tag with an image of Ford and a heartfelt message. With every bear sold, IMAGEN Brands will make a donation to the Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF), which provides college scholarships to promotional products industry employees and their children.

“Fran Ford gave you that Teddy Bear feeling of being your best friend, someone you could always talk to, and gave you that warm comfort as you traveled through life,” Paul Lage, president of IMAGEN Brands, said in a press release. With Ford, “we all seemed to get more than we ever gave. That’s why we are donating some of the proceeds back to the Promotional Products Education Foundation to help others in need. We hope Hey Buddy Bear touches others who may have a Fran Ford person in their lives.”

Ford was honored in October when Top 40 supplier The Magnet Group (asi/68507) opened a facility in Greenwood, SC that was named after the industry legend. A member of Counselor’s Power 50, Ford was given ASI’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, named to PPAI’s Hall of Fame in 2015, and inducted into Proforma’s Hall of Fame in 2016. His long, successful career in promo spanned 43 years, during which time he mentored and befriended countless promo pros.

The Hey Buddy Bear will make its debut at the 2019 ASI Shows and PPAI Expo.