Receiving promotional items is always a treat. Companies provide these items so that you will have them in mind and so that others will see you using them.

If you find you don't want the branding know that in 5min you can simply remove the printing (often pretty cheaply done) by using a few simple tools.

Step 1: Materials

In addition to the corporate swag you plan to modify you'll need two simple ingredients...

Razor Blades - I use single blade razors because one purchase lasts a lifetime ---a 100 blade pack works out to <.10/blade
Scouring Pads - here I'm using the new 96Hex pads ---they are pretty amazing. The side with the dots is 5x strength the heavy duty scrubber on the back.

Seamster - instructables in house-pro provides a few recommendations in the comments:

Goo Gone - powerful stuff. seamster notes that goo gone should definitely be used outside. ---they also make a household version
Goof Off - a more mild product for removing sticky materials

Step 2: Scrapping Method

Scrapping is pretty simple. It's much easier to get the angle right (and more forgiving) than sharpening a knife.

Angle. Really any angle less than 45 degrees works fine. I'm at about 30 degrees.
Edges. Yes, it's useful to start at the edges.

Step 3: Steady

A steady clean motion is important. Here I'm simply rotating the bottle as I scrape. It can be tempting to wipe the blade across the entire surface but I find it easier to slowly work across and maintain a clean surface.

Step 4: Finishing + Enjoy

A scouring pad works well to finish the surface. For a stainless steel water bottle you really can't damage the material. You'll want to use caution if you are using a scouring pad on plastic or a softer surface.

Enjoy. You now have a nice clean bottle ---easy to add a favorite decal/sticker.
Thanks for reading - Jeff

---I like having a good collection of water bottles. Here's an earlier instructable on my favorite glass bottle.

Here are a few of my unfeatured instructables that I think are useful around the house:

Cigar Box Shelves - how to reuse cigar shelves to make it much easier to build shelves
Bread Pudding - how to never waste bread and make the most under-appreciated dessert
Wine Box Coffee Table - yes, the easiest way to use old wine boxes and a door