Matches used to be an important give away for restaurants. They created name recognition and credibility at a low cost.

Then smoking went out of vogue and the need for matches decreased.

We have been discussing ideas for the new matches. Lillian, Rebecca, Gene B and Joel G contributed to the evolution of this idea.

We started with the question: “Why were matches such a good advertising medium?”

• Matches were useful
• Matches are cheap
• Matches are useful away from the place where they are given away.
• Matches are consumable so they have to be replaced
• A book or box of matches had room for some copy
• Matches don’t rot or change

The obvious product that meets these criteria is the ball point pen.

Interestingly hotels up and down the price spectrum give away pens but only some restaurants.  The only ones of the criteria above that pens don’t meet are usefulness and consumability.  People don’t write much and free pens would mostly end up in the junk drawer.

Another idea that was suggested was after dinner mints.  They could be about the size of the ones that Starbucks sells but only five or six of them in a matchbook size dispenser.  They seem to meet the criteria but we have never seen them used.

Other ideas suggested were beer mats, post cards, water bottles, some kind of web access code or take home spice packages.  None of them seems perfect but this is a matter of taste.  My vote is with the five mints in the matchbook.