![]() Pusey and his son carefully cut strips of cardboard with office shears, affixed them to a paper base and dipped the ends of the strips into sulfur and phosphorous, which they brewed over the pot-bellied stove in their office. He would eventually take out 36 different patents for various inventions, but his claim to fame was the "flexible match." He was granted a patent for his "flexibles" on September 27th, 1892: Source: Joshua Pusey's flexible match patent. He was also a tinkerer, and was fascinated, in particular, by fire. Source: Joshua Pusey Pusey was a Philadelphia patent lawyer with a love of cigars. Then came a gentleman named Joshua Pusey. But these early matches were highly volatile. The story of matchbook advertising dates back to the late 1800s. Businesses used matchbook advertising for the same reasons the State Department chose them to hunt down bin Laden. They were inexpensive, colourful, persuasive, and highly mobile. As a matter of fact, there was a time in our history when matchbooks were the most popular advertising medium in North America. But, aside from that failure, the mighty matchbook has a long and quite successful history in the world of marketing. And lastly, the website on the matchbooks was also incorrect - so anyone wishing to leave a tip just got an error message. A colour Muslims associate with Islam, so many Afghans would interpret it to mean bin Laden was a Holy Man. That could be because the reward amount on the matchbooks was missing a zero - it said $500,000 instead of $5 million. ![]() Unfortunately, as it turns out, the matchbooks weren't effective in bin Laden's case. Matchbooks were an inexpensive, yet effective way for the State Department to get the word out to remote regions, and keep it top of mind. Every time a matchbook got pulled out of a pocket, the owner was reminded of the bounty. Up to eight additional people are exposed to a single matchbook. Heavy to moderate smokers look at a matchbook 20+ times a day. But research showed that a high percentage of people in those regions were smokers. The thinking was this: Many of the rural people of the Middle East don't have access to radios or internet. Three years later, bin Laden's suspected involvement in the 9/11 attacks put the matchbooks back into circulation. Source: m. A matchbook that helped find terrorist Ramzi Yousef. The program started using matchbooks in the early 1990s, and it's reported that it was a matchbook that led to the arrest of World Trade Centre bombing suspect Ramzi Yousef. Source: m. Original bin Laden reward matchbook. To spread the word, the State Department printed and circulated thousands of matchbooks bearing bin Laden's image, a multi-million dollar reward, instructions for collecting the money, and the promise of identity protection and possible relocation. But one of the main channels was through matchbooks. ![]() They marketed the bounty in various mediums including posters, radio and the internet. So the State Department put the news out to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. The key to putting a bounty on someone is the same key to marketing a product People have to know the bounty exists in order to generate interest. law enforcement agents to prevent terrorist attacks, or successfully prosecute terrorists. It offered millions of dollars in exchange for information that enabled U.S. It was part of the State Department's "Rewards For Justice Program," created in the mid-1980s. State Department announced a reward of up to $5 million dollars for information that would lead to bin Laden's arrest and conviction. Later that year, a federal court in Manhattan indicted fugitive Saudi millionaire and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden on charges of plotting the attacks. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were truck-bombed. This week, we tell the remarkable story and journey of matchbook advertising. And believe it or not, as recently as 2001, the State Department used matchbook advertising to hunt down Osama bin Laden. From big beer and tobacco companies, to the war effort, to Hollywood, to the smallest Mom & Pop businesses, matchbook advertising was effective and affordable for everyone. Matchbook advertising pre-dated radio, and was embraced by almost every industry. They were handy, colourful, cheap and even a moderate smoker would be exposed to the advertising over 20 times a day. There was a time when the humble matchbook was the top advertising medium in North America. Get this episode from This week, we tell the remarkable story and journey of matchbook advertising.
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