Despite appearances, micropamphlets are firmly rooted in solid marketing and similar brainwashing techniques. Think "Work From Home" or those Chick tracts and you'll see this isn't new at all. We're not going to bore you with the deep psychology of this, but we do want to mention just enough to maximize the use of the technique. Just trust us, this uses deep magic.

Aside from the advantages of being cheap and easy, the principle advantage micropamphlets have is that they are small. This makes it possible to use the element of surprise as part of a micropamphleting campaign, and is the source of their "magic". If someone finds a card somewhere where they don't expect it, it makes it nearly a certainty that the card will be examined, even if only momentarily. This is miles beyond messages placed where people expect them to be, and are thus largely tuned out and don't even register. (Not that posters, signs, etc., don't have their place -- they do! And they can combine with micropamphleting for an exciting synergistic reaction. See below.)

And, best for last, micropamphleting allows you to more easily leverage the element of surprise in order to mess with people's heads. We'll talk more about this in a bit.

General Suggestions

• Always keep a stack of cards in a pocket you can access easily when you're out and about.
• Don't leave stacks of them in unsupervised places, or in supervised places without permission. They'll vanish without effect too rapidly.
• If you are leaving a stack in a good spot, put them in a business card holder rather than just in a stack on the counter. You can cheaply and easily fashion your own holder out of cardboard or wire or something, with a little imagination.
• Anytime you retrieve something from a machine (change, product, whatever), drop a card in for the next person to find.
• Buy a paper? Leave a card on top of or slipped inside the next paper in the stack.
• Similarly, you can slip them easily into magazines at the checkout stand, books at the bookrack, etc. When doing this, insert the card completely so that it remains hidden until the purchaser actually turns to the page.
• Slip one or two into stacks of other business card stacks sitting in offices and waiting rooms.
• Enter the card in those "free lunch drawing" fishbowls in restaurants.
• Anytime someone in the street hands you something, hand them a card in return.
• Beggars can get cards, too!
• If you micropamphlet the same area heavily, be sure to frequently change the pamphlet design so people won't get too used to seeing them (and start tuning them out).
• Be sure to match the pamphlet's exact message to the audience it's likely to get. Distributing cards that say "Don't Be A Dick" probably won't advance the cause in your local church, but a card that reads "Jesus Says This War Is Evil", with supporting biblical references, might be just the thing.
• For the elections, print up cards supporting the candidates running against the warmongers.
• Don't piss people off by littering or hitting an area so much that people are picking cards out of every nook and cranny. You want people to react to your message, not because there's an epidemic of soggy, illegible garbage being strewn around. Be cool and be considerate. Look at how much mileage the warmongers are getting simply by being polite.

Advanced Techniques

With a little thought, you can also set up some psychological dissonance (yes, marketers really talk this way). This is valuable because if you successfully induce dissonance, then for a brief split second the viewer's conscious, logical mind is logjammed. For a moment, it's pure subconscious looking at your message, with conscious filtering turned off. Yes, it's very creepy. Yes, it's messing with people's heads. Yes, it's psychological warfare. But that's the nature of the war we've found ourselves in. Marketers do it to you all the time, too, because it can be very effective.

The technique is called disrupt-and-reframe. The surprise of finding a card can provide sufficient disruption, if it has the proper message considering the context it is found in. The card must, necessarily, contain the "reframe" part, which in this case would be some call to action against war.

For instance, a card placed under a windshield wiper is easy to overlook when entering the car, but can still be visible from the driver's seat through the windshield. The card could read, in bold letters, "There's Blood In Your Gas. Stop The War." The disruption is provided not just by the finding of the card, but also the dissonance involved in comingling the concepts of the car they're sitting in with the war (helped along by the similarity between the words "car" and "war"). If you pull this stunt, don't be surprised if some people turn off their car when they see it.

This is a real weapon with which we can fight this war.

One final word of advice. Ideally, your pamphlets should do the following things: Identify the problem, make the viewer feel really uncomfortable about the problem, and offer a way to resolve the problem.

We also encourage everyone to start really paying attention to the other techniques advertisers use all the time, all around you. Use the same techniques yourself. They work -- that's why businesses spend billions doing them.

Using Synergy

The effects of your efforts can be amplified dramatically if you use micropamphleting in conjuction with other efforts such as picketing, normal pamphleting, etc. The key is to have a common graphic/layout/design so that the design itself triggers the memory of the other messages. This is the reason companies spend millions on developing logos -- the logo is the common design.

If there is an event planned in the future, do a more intense micropamphleting campaign beginning the week before the event. Make the designs of the cards match the design of the posters, flyers and other materials that will be present at the event. This "fertilizing" of the area will add to the impact of the event literature, and will also reduce the "fear of the unknown" reaction -- the people will have seen the design before, here and there, and so it won't be completely foreign.

Other Ideas

When I was picking up some diecut business cards, I happened to notice a few other items of interest in the same rack. This happened to be an Avery stand, so I'm going to be mentioning Avery products, but I'm sure that other brands produce similar items. I'm not an Avery salesman, honest!

Inkjettable Magnetic Sheets. These are Avery #3270, and are 8.5 x 11 inch sheets of refrigerator-magnet like stuff. I haven't toyed with it too much yet, but this has real potential for putting messages in even more surprising places, without engaging in vandalism.

You can cut the sheets in any way you choose, so how about little skinny strips that you can attach to the tops of door frames? Restroom stalls tend to be made of steel, too. You can give people bumper stickers that won't make them furious, because they can be taken off easily. You could print a really big sign in panels on the sheets, which can be easily pieced together in the field. Add a little decoration to the back of that big ol' truck.

T-Shirt Transfers. (Avery 3271) We've been using these for years (various brands), and they work very well. You just have to remember the image on the shirt is going to be mirror-imaged from what you print.

Window Decals Avery 3276. Clear sheets of plastic-like substance, with adhesive on the back. Don't vandalize by putting permanent markings, decals, or stickers in places that you don't have the OK for. Not just because it's wrong (which it is), but because it will drive people away from a cause they might otherwise support.

Sticker Project Paper. Avery 3383. Just like the magnetic sheets, but using glue instead of magnets. See the note about vandalism above.