• July 31, 2007

Tosca? Gesundheit! The New York City Opera is partnering with AdPack to distribute 10,000 tissue packs promoting the upcoming fall 2007 season. The tissue packs will be distributed in gala event gift bags and also be on sale at the opera's gift shop throughout the season. Although using tissue packs as ad platforms is relatively new in the U.S., it has been an established medium since the 1970s in Japan, where AdPack is headquartered. According to AdPack President Steve Jacobs, it's so "successful and ubiquitous in society, that the retail business for facial tissues in Japan is the smallest in the world." About 4 billion free promotional tissue packs are distributed every year in Japan, at a total cost of about $1 billion. --Erik Sass