"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
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."
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!
Student Hippies facing off against the National Guard
Just like any printed matter, match book advertising qualifies as a form of free speech in America. Therefore, making the circumstances under which the wording of a matchbook advertisement might be deemed to be an element of a crime very narrow under the First Amendment.
Nevertheless, there have been cases where matchbook advertising/propaganda has been known to test the limits of the law. For example, during the politically charged antiwar era of the late 1960's/early '70's matchbooks printed with the message "EOW" were distributed at Bloomfield State College in West Virginia. These letters stood as the acronym for "End of Week". The secret message behind these letters was passed along by the students encouraging them to burn the campus if the demands of certain student groups were not met by the end of the week.[1]
During this tumultuous period in our country's history; when our country was experiencing rampant (and deadly) college student protests against the Vietnam War and a series of riots fueled by rage in response to the news of the assassination of M.L.K. that resulted in the destruction of many major cities, match advertising was also used by "The Man" as a means to "counter" the "counterculture". "The Man" in this case was a Dallas Police Officer who decided to design and distribute his own matchbooks as propaganda to advertise his support for his fellow patrolmen with apparent success. So as the story goes, during the late '60's and early '70's members of the angry Hippie counterculture referred to Law Enforcement Officers as "Pigs." This Dallas Policeman, decided to take the sting out of the counterculture's disrespectful use of the word "Pig" by acknowledging it and to repurpose it in his own personal public relations campaign by distributing matchbooks along his beat that he had printed with the message "Leonard Edge: Pig and Proud!".[2]
The use of match book advertising by Law Enforcement didn't end after the '70's. Since then, local Police Departments and the FBI have used printed advertising matches as a method to aid in the capture of wanted fugitives, to advertise local D.A.R.E. anti-drug programs, as well as local "Cop Shot" Tips Hotline reward programs. Furthermore, back in 1995 -6 years PRIOR to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which lead to our engagement in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA and the local authorities in Pakistan had successfully distributed wanted posters along and MATCHBOOKS as a medium for advertising a $2 Million reward for the capture of wanted international terrorists such as Mir Amal Kansi who was wanted in the brutal attack outside CIA headquarters in 1993 in which two people were killed and three other people were permanently injured.[3]
To order your business' own groovy advertising matches check out TheMatchGroup
Man or call a member of our very hip and cool sales staff at 800.605.7331. who would love to turn your business' clients on to the experience of your custom branded match advertising!
[1] James v. West Virginia Bd. Of Regents, 322 F.Supp. 217 (S.D. W.Va., 1971), aff'd 448 F.2d 785 (4th Cir. 1971).
[2] Minor v. State, 469 S.W.2d 579 (Tex. Crim. App. 1971); Minor v. State, 476 S.W.2d 694 (Tex. Crim. App. 1972).
I've noticed that my blog posts that feature FEATUREMatchBooks with special printed match stems seem to receive a lot of hits! I happened to stumble upon and repost this item from the blogger The Invisible Agent, who tastefully posted a nice collection of Lion Match Corp's 21 "Feature" #matchbooks that featured #printedmatchstems.
The Match Group is proud to announce that we now offer the a modern version of the "vintage" printed match feature option for you to promote your business! Feature match books are highly collectible and are a big hit on social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest!
We will be adding more info on our site.
In the meantime, here are some pics of 2 different style match books that we now offer that include optional special feature matches!
Contains either the standard width feature match stems or special die cut shaped matches that can also be custom printed!contains 2 rows of 5 Special printed wider feature matches
Joseph Martinez Oil Painting using the inside covers of match books as his canvas!
A fascinating re-purposing of Paper match books that are used by the artist Joseph Martinez to create original life like oil paintings as mini works of pocket fine art!
Check out the video montage of Joseph's fascinating work on Vimeo:
A vary retro style 40 Stem 3" Wide Paper Match Book produced for "Trailer Park Lounge" in NYC.
KEEPSAKES: 1) TACTILE ADVERTISING
If offered, most people will gladly collect match books as they leave a restaurant or a retail business to save as a memento of their pleasant experience. They serve as a tangible reminder -what we like to call "functional business cards". Most importantly, from the restaurateur's/advertiser's perspective they act as a method for a satisfied customer to use to recommend their restaurant or business to their friends and family. Furthermore, these colorful & useful 3 dimensional pocket advertisers make much more of an impression serving as a token of thanks to your customers as opposed to the default plain one-dimensional non-functional business card that ends up being forgotten in their back pockets only to end up in next week's laundry!
KEEPSAKES: 2) FOR USE AROUND THE HOUSE
Match Books DO NOT promote smoking because most smokers carry lighters. Recipients of a restaurant's advertising matches are pleased with the many uses that matches provide around the house such as: lighting the backyard grill, decorative candles, hurricane candles and birthday candles, their fireplace, their gas stove or relighting a gas pilot light. Plus, for over the past 110+ years, matchbooks have proven to be the most economical & most effective form of direct advertising for a business and are much more collectible than your basic business card. Many matches are collected and displayed at home, making them great conversation starters for one's guests!
You can rely upon TheMatchGroupfor your business' own unique match advertising campaign! Call one of our match mavens at 800.605.7331 today to get started designing your business' own branded advertising match books or match boxes!
