Square Tube BX6 Matchbox

Joe Danon Quoted re. The Resurgence in The Popularity of Advertising Matches in BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL 10-27-2000

TMG_Logo

Joe Danon Quoted in The Baltimore Business Journal
10-27-2000

REKINDLING THE FLAME

"With the rise of the Internet, people have come to expect instant service, yet the match industry is still a smokestack industry," said Joe Danon...."The production mechanisms all date back to World War II or before -- there are no new match factories coming on line -- and so the production side has not risen to the level that the current marketplace expects."

The situation can be remedied. Danon rushes through first orders for new clients, and then gets clients on automatic reorder schedules so that no one ever runs out. He also spends a lot of time making nice to clients who can't understand why it takes less than a day to get business cards printed, and more than two months to get matchbooks.

NO SMOKING
imgres

As for the presumed bigger problem, the stop-smoking craze, Danon said it hardly comes up any more.
"As an advertising vehicle, restaurant owners have learned that toothpicks don't cut it. Business cards don't cut it. They just don't have the same perceived value," he said. "You can pay a dollar for a business card and still get better value from a 5-cent matchbook because it is in essence a functional business card. It is something people can use."

salmaHayek

Pic Credit: Salma Hayek Times Magazine

To order your business' own branded #matchbooks or #matchboxes GoTo: TheMatchGroup or CALL 800.605.7331 to speak with one of our Match Mavens TODAY!


Vanity Fair Magazine Feature FANFAIR July 2000 Issue "A Certain Flare" Celebrating the Resurgence of Match Advertising After Smoking Bans Were Implemented Throughout the U.S.

VANITY FAIR Magazine July 2000 Issue

FANFAIR ARTICLE "A CERTAIN FLARE" FEATURING the Resurgence of "Signature Matchbooks" [branded matches]

VanityFairJuly2000MatchFeature

This article celebrates the resurgence along with the relevance and effectiveness of branded restaurant matches right after several major cities had implemented their smoking bans, circa July 2000.
The article's writer Steve Garbarino, made the argument for restaurants to continue purchasing and distributing their decorative advertising matches for them to serve the important purpose of being used as an alternative [functional] business card.

The majority of the matches pictured in the article happened to be produced by Joe Danon such as PASTIS, MATCH, MOOMBA, JOE'S PUB, CAMPAGNA, BAR CODE, FLORENT, CAFE LOUP, ODEON, LEMON, BOND ST, RESTAURANT DANIEL and ASIA de CUBA.

Branded match boxes and match books act as viral advertising that are used as an effective method for recommending a restaurant by being passed by a person who had a pleasant dining experience at the restaurant to their friends and family.

Historically, advertising matches have always been treasured as collectibles and as mementos of good times and travels that continue to make their intended repetitive impression on the restaurants' clientele until the last match has been struck -and sometimes even years later!

To order your business' own branded matches call 800.605.7331 or goto TheMatchGroup Today!


Brides Magazine Feature on Decorative Wedding Matches for Favors

Brides Magazine Feature on Decorative Wedding Matches for Favors

Article from Brides magazine dated Nov 2005 Issue "411 BRIDES parties & planning"

BridesMagazineFeatureingMatches

The feature represented 8 different decorative match boxes that were recommended and available at the time for the Bride to be to purchase for use as party favors and to pair with decorative candles.
The "Pink Stripe" patterned Cylindrical Style match box and the "Green Polka Dot" BXQ3 -20 stick Rectangular design match box were produced by the company UtilityHome where I was a partner with the very talented Graphic designer Susan Fisher. Susan was responsible for designing these two match boxes among dozens of other matches books and match boxes, as well as a range of decorative table top paper products that UtilityHome produced that included beverage coasters, place mats and breath mints for retail sale.

To order your business' own branded matches  goto:TheMatchGroup or call 800.605.7331 to speak with one of our match experts today!


How Do You Display Your Advertising Match Collection? The Effectiveness and Lasting Impression of Advertising Matches vs. Online Social Media

Matchbox Collection Displayed in a Basket
Matchbox Collection Displayed in a Basket

How Do You Display Your Advertising Match Collection?

In a Basket, as Oversized Brandy Snifter, a special Matchbook Display Rack Hung on the Wall, or a Matchbook Cover Scrap Book?

Despite all of the hand wringing and predictions of death of the restaurant Match Book in the narrow context of a world that discourages smoking, restaurants, hotels, clubs, candle makers, etc.are still willing and enthusiastic to continue the 120+ year old practice of creating and distributing their own "miniature works of art" to serve as "Functional Business Cards" in the form of their branded match books and match boxes.

In this period of intangible social networks and "feeds" consisting  of Tweets, Facebook Updates, Instagram Pics, Foursquare Check ins, Google Searches, Yelp Reviews, etc., humans still crave something tangible and "offline" -an alternative to the flood of interruptions and distractions that technology and social media cause. In this day and age, the great majority of heavy social media users experience bouts of anxiety that sometimes leads to depression while attempting to keep up with the constant barrage of social media assaults (updates) on a minute by minute basis!

Match books and Match Boxes in their own "offline" tangible time tested way, act as link for the recipient to the experience of a time (pre-internet age) of genuine human contact that included face to face "social networking".

The FIRST Advertising Match Book. Hand Drawn and Hand Pasted promoting the Mendelson Opera Company's Performance with the Comedian Thomas Lowden.
The FIRST Advertising Match Book. Promoting the Mendelson Opera Company's Performance with the Comedian Thomas Lowden.

Over the past 120 years since the first match book was hand printed and pasted back in 1889, by the manager of the Mendelson Opera Company who had the idea to buy 200 blank matchbooks for using to hand-print advertising messages and pictures of the opera’s leading players affixed to them, we continue to seek mementos such as advertising match books and match boxes as a means to maintain a consistent, reliable and tangible connection with our past experiences and events vs. the fleeting nature of social media with our latest Tweet, Face Book post or Instagram pic. that we post with the intention to memorialize a fleeting experience only to be pushed deeper and deeper to the "bottom" of the "feed" towards the inevitable march into further oblivion thus erasing any of the experience's "specialness" thus preventing us from revisiting that special experience as it continues further downstream as the flow of newer tweets, posts, pics and updates continue to be posted on top of it.

To order your business' own branded matches that is proven to stand the test of time, contact TheMatchGroup or call one of our match mavens at 800.605.7331 and we'll hook you up!


FEATURE MATCHES Match Books -Vintage Match Books with Colorful Images Across Flattened Match Stems

TMG_Logo

FEATURE MATCHES - Match Books with Colorful Images Printed Across Flattened Match Stems

ASSORTMENT OF "FEATURE" MATCH BOOKS WITH PRINTED MATCH STEMS
ASSORTMENT OF VINTAGE "FEATURE" -MATCH BOOKS WITH CUSTOM PRINTED FLATTENED MATCH STEMS.

Branded Match Books serve as mementos from places that you've visited or vacationed at, make great keepsakes from cherished family events and obviously, are a convenient and reliable source of fire for lighting candles, fireplaces, barbecues, incense, igniting gas pilot lights, as well as an essential item for use when camping. To this day advertising matches remain as one of the most inexpensive and highest impact forms of advertising -serving as "Functional Business Cards" that are widely accepted by your customers for the uses mentioned above while at the same time serving to promote your business, product or service.

Over 60 years ago, match company salesman would pitch potential customers with the catchy phrase: "your match books act as 20 little salesmen" meaning that when each of the 20 individual matches (in a standard match book) was removed and struck by it's user, it served as an opportunity to reinforce your company's brand 20 times!

"You can't beat match books for good, inexpensive advertising," says John Williams, publicity manager of The American Matchcover Collecting Club. When traveling through the smallest towns, you should still be able to pick up matches from restaurants, hotels and businesses who still believe in the power of these economical "pocket billboards" to advertise their businesses.

Match cover collecting satisfies every collector's urge to organize, classify, categorize and display .

In this post I'll be featuring the highly collectible and unique FEATURE -match books with colorful images across flattened sticks. Lion Match Corporation was the first match manufacturer to design and produce the feature match book.

The first FEATURE match books were Giant Sized -about 4" tall!

1936 Giant Feature Match Book advertising a Buick sponsored NBC Radio Show
1936 Giant Feature Match Book advertising a Buick sponsored NBC Radio Show
1936 Giant Feature Match Book a Buick Sponsored NBC Boxing Radio Show
1936 Giant Feature Match Book a Buick Sponsored NBC Boxing Radio Show
Early GE Giant Feature Match Book
Early GE Giant Feature Match Book
Early GE Giant Feature Match Book with Selling Tips
Early General Electric Giant Feature Match Book with Selling Tips

There were also other special options that were later introduced such as special die cut match cover shapes offered to enhance the image of the advertising product by making it stand out with a 2 Dimensional look  outside in addition to the feature -printed match stems inside:

'57 Pontiac Die Cut Special Feature Match Book
'57 Pontiac Special Die Cut Feature Match Book
'57 Pontiac Feature printed match stems with image of their new V8 motor
'57 Pontiac Match Book with Feature printed match stems depicting an illustration of their new V8 Engine

And an example of a Political Feature Match Book:

Wendell Wilkie Printed Stem Feature Match Book
Wendell Wilkie Printed Stem Feature Match Book "What the People Want"

For the first time in 40 years, The Match Group is proud to announce that we have an exclusive arrangement to produce several styles of  highly collectible and sought out vintage #featurematches  -customized with your logo and ad copy to promote your business!

You can rely upon TheMatchGroup to keep the flame of match advertising lit! Call one of our match mavens at 800.605.7331 today to design your business' own branded advertising match books, match boxes or feature matchbooks!