• by December 7, 2000

By Chris Griffin

The next time you're sitting back, drinking a double-latte, take a look at the cup sleeve - that paper thing wrapped around your cup to keep your hands from burning. You just might help find a missing child.

Hot Liquid Media, creator of cup sleeve advertising, has teamed up with the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children to produce a national cup sleeve advertising program using new photographic capabilities to feature three missing children.

Julie Braun of the Wisconsin Dept of Justice says, "Just by taking a moment and looking at a coffee cup, someone may be able to help bring a missing child home. It's so simple, yet so powerful."

In 1999, the number of missing children reported to the police was roughly 750,000. The photographic capabilities of Hot Liquid Media are especially appropriate for the campaign because statistically, one in seven missing children are found as a direct result of photographic programs.

This particular program, co-sponsored by Mail.com, Guru.com, Red Herring, Ricochet and others, will roll out in eight major cities, including New York, San Francisco, D.C., and Minneapolis during the month of December.

Justin Fortune, president and CEO of Hot Liquid Media says that since the project was met with such support, the company will continue to run this program on a regular basis. "The entire staff of HLM came up with the idea and thought that this is a cause that we could all stand behind," he said.

San Francisco-based Hot Liquid Media boasts such clients as Noah's Bagels and CA1, a chain of airport cafés, and claims to reach the top 60 DMA's with the cup sleeve, according to Fortune. He says advertisers are generally attracted to the idea of a 4-color, "stand-alone, hand delivered product," which may include coupons, promotions, calls to action, contests, etc, suitable for both branding and response-oriented campaigns.

Chris Griffin may be reached at chris@mediapost.com