Do you ever go back and go through your past academic writing? It’s crazy for me to look back on old papers that I’ve written to see how I’ve evolved as a writer. In some ways, I’ve certainly “improved.” Other ways, I think it’s hard to say something is an “improvement” when it’s really a change in writing voice.
Anyway, I once wrote up the history of Post-It Notes for a Mass Media Communication class. It was one of my favorites.
Post-It Society, Courtesy of 3M
Katy M. Hannah
3M was one of the first companies to made "a deliberate decision to give its people the time and resources to be creative: any technical staffer can spend 15% of his or her time working on their own projects, using company resources." (Marketing). Spencer Silver was a senior chemist working for 3M in the late 1960's (about). In 1967, Spencer Silver was working on creating a super-strong adhesive glue when he came up with a glue with a granular texture which did not stick to surfaces permanently; in essence, he succeed in creating a glue with properties completely opposite of what he intended (nytimes). 3M could find no practical use for the substance. Then in the early 1970's, they introduced a product called the Post-It Bulletin Board, which they hoped would replace traditional cork boards; however, it was a flop due to the fact that dust and hair also stuck to the board, not just scraps of paper (nytimes). It was not until 1976, when another 3M scientist, Arthur Fry, decided to put the adhesive on the backs of paper scraps. Fry sang in his church choir, and he used bits of paper to mark songs in his hymnal, but became frustrated because the pieces of paper kept falling out (Marketing). He came up with the idea to put Silver's adhesive on the back of his bookmarks, and thus the Post-It Note was born.
Marketing at 3M was skeptical of Fry's idea, because the product would be many times more expensive to buy than simple scraps of paper. In 1977, post-its were market tested, with a luke-warm reaction; however, a year later, in Idaho, 3M distributed free samples to four different companies, and 90% of the company workers said they would buy the product (nytimes). According to a London-based magazine "Marketing," a 40-50% intent to reorder is extremely high, so a 90% intent to reorder completely removed any skepticism about the possible success of the Post-It Note (Marketing). They officially launched the product nationwide in 1980, though they continued giving out free samples to Fortune 500 companies (post-it.com).
The first post-its were 2 7/8 square inches and yellow; a few years later, they introduced the rest of the basic color pallette. In 1987, Post-it Flags were introduced. They were the newest thing in organization, serving people as bookmarks, notebook tabs, and helping usher in an era of color coordination. In 1994, 3M introduced Post-It Easel Pads, which is basically a giant sticky note pad on an easel, which is great for presentations and can even be used as interesting teaching tool. The geniuses at 3M then released Post-it Pop-up Notes in 1991, which took the classic sticky note and alternated the sticky part of the note to opposite ends on each consecutive note, making them form a sort of accordion (kind of like tissues in a box). In conjunction with these notes, they came out with dispensers. Now, if you go on their website, many different colors and variety of dispensers exist for your pleasure. This was a great marketing ploy for 3M because they began selling the Pop-up Notes as well as dispensers. People began buying more and more expensive Post-It Products.
The next release from 3M more than ten years later in the form of Post-it Super Sticky Notes, which promise to stick to more difficult surfaces. Their ad campaign for this product was brilliant, and produced some of the most memorable commercials of all time. In one post-it super sticky note commercial, a jack russel terrier goes after a note on the wall with a bone drawn on it, bites it, and instead of the note coming off the wall, the dog remains suspended in the air because of the adhesive power of the note. This type of hyperbole is really unnecessary for 3M post-it products, because post-it products have permeated pop culture so thoroughly. Like Kleenex, we barely acknowledge that Post-it is actually a brand name.
Recently, 3M has come out with the Post-it Labels, Post-it Greener Notes , and Post-it Flag Highlighters in 2009, and Post-it Laptop Note Dispensers were only released last year. None of the Post-it product releases have been as big as the original sticky note. (Post-it.com)
The sticky note entered into our lives as one of the first products for which there was no discernible need. People had gotten by without sticky notes for thousands of years, so 3M had great reason to procrastinate on the products launch, because they had little reason to believe that people would buy something they did not really need. America, as a consumer society was still in its infancy in the late 1970's, and people were more apt to save their disposable income or spend it on products they were familiar with. Post-its were an office supply, but 3M had no idea that they would become so much more. In current times, Post-it notes have become a popular form of communication, a great way to post personal reminders, a great planning tool, and a funny reference in movies and television. In the television show Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw, the main character, was broken up with by her boyfriend via a Post-it Note saying nothing more than "I'm sorry, I can't. Don't hate me." Playing a less depressing role in the lives of television characters, in the tv show "Grey's Anatomy," the main characters Meredith Gray and Derek Shepherd opt to get married on a sticky note instead of taking time from their jobs to go to city hall. In a more traditional role, sticky notes can be found on the desks of the characters in the hit tv show "The Office," "Glee," and other tv shows set in offices or schools.
Post-it Notes have become something we think we need. At the beginning of each school year, I guarantee that this product is on the lists of many students and professors, along with their essential binders, notebooks, pens, pencils, and the less essential laptop covers, phone cases, personalized stationary, designer book cases and agendas, and newest trend clothing. If I were to label an invention that truly helped shaped the American psyche into a truly materialistic society, I would say that the innocent-looking Post-it is one of many culprits. Of all the desires one could have for something they don't need, the Post-it is one of the least expensive. Nowadays many people do not think they could survive without internet connected phones. Before that it was cell phones in general, the internet, landlines, all the way back to the first televisions, radios, even Morse code. As life becomes more handy, we stop believing that we could go back to the way life was before modern convenience.
Though it helped usher in the age of consumerism, and competition for cutting-edge office supplies, the post-it will always have a place in the hearts of the American consumer. It is a unique product fully developed by an American company using American innovations. Even the ideals which led to the development of the adhesive- giving employees company time and resources to work on personal projects- was a uniquely 3M idea, and thus an American idea. Now, companies hire people to basically think up new innovations and invent new products as their jobs!
The Post-it may have helped usher in an age of consumerism, and helped make people believe that we need things that we do not, but it is still at its core, an invention which made our lives little bit more convenient. It is a product that simply gave us a little yellow piece of paper with a bit of weak adhesive on the back, making it perfect for posting inspirational messages on people's lockers, writing down notes about homework, proposing marriage in a cute way, breaking up with people in an impersonal way, and even making pixelated art work. It is the God-given little sticky note of Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry.
Works Cited:
Anonymous. "Convenient Dispenser for Post-It Notes; Battery Operated Label Maker." The CPA Journal Vol. 21, Iss. 61 (1991): pg. 61. Proquest.
Anonymous. "Post-it: How a maverick got his way." Marketing Oct 28 (1993): pg. 31. Proquest.
Bellis, Mary. "Post It Note: Arthur Fry invented the post it note but Spencer Silver invented the glue." inventors.about.com. About, n.d. Web. 22 February, 2011.
Havener, Cliff. "An Insider's guide to the Post-It Story." Management Review Vol. 83, Iss. 12 (1994): pg 45. Proquest.
Newman, Anderew N. "Turning 30, an Office Product Works at Home." The New York Times 27 July, 2010. NYTimes.com.
Sloane, Lucas. (1999, February). Post-It sets nutty ad. Brandweek, 40(5), 8. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 38787855).
"The Thirty-Year Stick: How Post-It Notes Have Stuck to Our Culture And History." newsweek.com. Newsweek, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.