Compiled by Janet Hamilton
The 10/30/96 Wall Street Journal had a Hewlett Packard ad listing things employees do to kill time. One fairly far down the list is "Turning bellybutton lint into origami".
An ad on page 4 of the 3/2/97 New York Times Book Review for the paperback 'Audrey Hepburn's Neck' contained the following review by Janice Greene of the San Francisco Chronicle: "AUDREY HEPBURN'S NECK is like origami, put together with grace and ingenuity."
In July 1997 there was an 8 page newspaper advertising section on Walt Disney World with a picture of kids wearing the traditional origami samurai helmet in front of the Torii gate at the Japanese pavilion in EPCOT Center. The caption read "Delighted youngsters show off their versions of Japanese headwear, created with the help of an artist at the Japan pavilion in EPCOT World Showcase."
The July 15, 1997 issue of The Village Voice had a picture on the cover of two hands held by handcuffs that appear to be folded from money. The title of the related article was "Corporate Loan Sharks - The Big Money in Bad Credit" by Thomas Goetz.
The UK Post Office had an ad in the Times on 11/15/97 including an origami model and the top part of some diagrams, with the creator's name and "British Origami Society" clearly visible. The model was Fred Rohm’s Turkey. The object of the advert was to encourage all in the UK to write to American friends for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, May 28, 1998, page A11, carried a Visa Card/Northwest Airlines ad showing what looks like an airplane with the words, "How do you fly free in the US? Go to Asia".
The Arts and Leisure Section of The New York Times on August 23, 1998, had an ad on page 5 for the Joyce Theatre. The letters forming the theatre's logo, the curtain and the three dancers look like origami. Bertrand Le Pautremat is credited with the "paper illustration."
In October 1998 the Independent UK newspaper included a leaflet advertising an Internet connection package from Cable & Wireless. Each side of the yellow sheet had printed fold lines for a paper dart, along with folding diagrams at the base of one side. The dart is traditional apart from a pleat included in the nose. The text below the diagrams says "Fold as shown and get off to a flying start."
New York Teacher newspaper, Oct. 21, 1998, page 9A, showed a full page ad for NYSUT and the Ernst & Young Financial Counseling Program. The color graphic showed paper airplanes made out of money flying into a wire basket. The headline read, "Still dealing with financial issues by winging it? Better cut it out."
The front section of the USA Today December 10, 1998 had an origami ad for a new phone service. A globe-map on a folded dodecahedron had the caption "going global?" Next was a peacock with the caption "Planning to Expand?" On the peacock's tail is the name of the service "Business Flex". Then there was a rhinoceros with the caption "Charging ahead?" And finally, a half page ad for Sprint's Business Flex service, with a goose in flight. Also included were some line drawings of intermediate steps in folding a flapping bird.
The NY Daily News carried a two page Citibank ad on 3/12/99 filled with dollar bill rabbits! The ad was also the centerfold in the first section of the New York Times. A billboard atop the Penn Station entrance of Madison Square Garden also shows the money bunnies. An animated version (done in Seattle,Washington) has been shown on TV. The model is a modification the traditional rabbit by Ros Joyce.
In the business section of the Sunday New York Times on 4/11/99, page 4, there was an article on office paper. The photograph shows seven packages of printer paper with origami sharks circling them. The caption is, "Feeding Frenzy at the Stationery Store." The origami was designed and folded by Joseph Wu in one day.
An origami rooster was used in ads by the San Jose Mercury News (California, USA) in the paper and on billboards locally.
Spied in New York 4/2000: "Find a space, fill the space. Clean up... with LOOT- at newsstands everywhere. When classified run free, bargains run wild!" A yellow origami lion folded from Loot's unique yellow newsprint paper stares out from the ad with "LOOT" as his eyes.
May 2000 - a double page spread of an origami diplodicus by Maarten VanGelder was spotted - the publication name was not reported.
The Wall Street Journal, March 15th, 2001 - On the inside page of the Money and Investing section was an ad for the Imperial Hotel illustrated by a photograph of a folded martini glass with folded olive (traditional origami balloon model) skewered by a cocktail pick, the latter not origami. The headline reads: "Leave it to the Japanese to turn entertainment into an art form." The same hotel used a photo of Ronald Koh’s markhor - a species of wild goat with spiraled horns and hairy 'chest' - on their Christmas card last year. However, they chopped of parts of the horn to turn it into a reindeer with spiraled antlers. The headline read: "Leave it to the Japanese to turn the holidays into an art form", which seemed somewhat out of sync with the tag below the model which read: "Designed and folded by Ronald Koh, SINGAPORE"
1/2004 - Joseph Wu did a series of ads for PCM, a company that owns a number of major Dutch newspapers. The ads ran in "de Volkskrant", "NRC Handelsblad", and "Algemeen Dagblad", and in advertising industry magazines such as "tijdschrift voor marketing" (Magazine for Marketing) and "Adfotmatie". The origami models were folded out of newspaper, and included a crumpled ball (the company insisted that "the artist" had to make it), a boat, a donkey, a "turd", a carrot, a chameleon, a fish, a key, and a pair of boxing gloves.
An ad for Harmony Airlines in the 6/3/2004 Los Angeles Times showed what at a glance looked like a normal dart airplane made from a dollar bill. However the leading edges of the wings appeared to be unfolded bill edges, making the "model" seem more like a computer generated graphic than a photographed origami model.
Incidentally, an advertisement for SBC phone company, showing an origami peacock folded from a phone bill was featured in the San Diego Union-Tribue newspaper on page A6. (March 2005)
The HyVee grocery store chain had an advertising insert the
week of July 6-12, 2005 that included money origami - a family of 4, a
house, a boat, a "pet", a car, and a shirt. The accompanying text
reads, "with all the great savings during hy-vee's dollar week... how will
you spend the money you saved? on your house? maybe on a boat? new toys for your
pet? buy a new car? on new clothes?" http://www.hy-vee.com/default.asp?p=weekly-specials
May 2007 - The advertisements for Christian Aid week featured a series of 3 ads with photographed origami steps turning an envelope into a chicken, a tap and a banana tree (all by Mark Bolitho). They were printed in the Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Independent (all UK papers) on Saturday May 12. There is also a billboard on Oxford Street (opposite the Virgin mega store) with 6 step chicken instructions. The accompanying TV add features paper airplanes, but was not done by Mark.
October 2007 - The Vancouver Sun ran an ad for Shaw Digital Phones. The headline was Tame Your Phone Bill with Shaw's Home Phone Service and on the right is a roaring Tyrannosaurus Rex folded from a phone bill.