Raise Your Hand if You’ve Played with Silly Putty

Raise them high because today is Silly Putty Day! Silly Putty, that wonderful pink rubber-like stretchy substance was introduced to the public on March 2nd in 1950.

Developed at a possible rubber substitute for the World War II effort. America needed rubber to produce Truck Tires and boot soles and manufacturers were asked to come up with a synthetic rubber. James Wright, an engineer with General Electric combined silicone oil and boric acid resulting in a goewy substance that when dropped bounces. They called it Bouncing Putty.  Try as they might, GE could not come up with a practical use for the substance.  However, in 1949 Paul Hogdson, a toy store manager  bought $147 dollars worth of Bouncing Putty, separated it into little colored eggs, called it SILLY PUTTY and then sold it through his toy store.

In August of 1950, a writer for the New Yorker magazine discovers Silly Putty in a Doubleday bookstore and writes a story on it in The Talk of the Town. Within three days, Hodgson receives orders for 250,000 eggs.

Unusual uses for Silly Putty: Silly Putty can be used to pick up dirt, lint, and pet hair. It is also used by physical therapists for rehabilitative therapy of hand injuries.

In case you were wondering, You can make a similar substance at home using a solution of borax and water mixed with white glue, but it won’t pick up the funny pages.

So just how can you use Silly Putty to Promote Your Orgaznization? You could do what D.H. Hill Library did as part of an experiment duirng their annual materials summer camp for high school students.  If you ever wondered what would happen if you dropped 50 lbs of Silly Putty from the 7th floor of an office building check out this  quirky YouTube® video they produced:

You can also see the Classic Original SILLY PUTTY TV Commercial here:

And if you are familiar with Blendtec Industrial blenders and how they promote those blenders on YouTube® using quirky and unusual marketing strategies, you are likely familiar with their Will It Blend? series.  Check out their Will it Blend Silly Putty here:

And just in case you thought Silly Putty was totally silly, you might be surprised to know that it was included in a Smithsonian Institute display in 2000, as part of an exhibit displaying objects that helped shape American culture.

More great marketing ideas can be found in the Quirky Marketing Calendar ~ How to Use Zany and Non-traditional Holidays to Promote Your Business 365 Days a Year! 

 
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