'United We Stand' Poster Is a Hit for California Shop
Staff -- graphic arts online, 2/1/2002
Later this month, Weiser Litho, Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., will receive the Patriot Award from the Printing Industries Association of Southern California for printing and shipping thousands of its "United We Stand" posters—free of charge—all around the world.
"Soon after the terrorist attacks on September 11, we heard our clients complaining that they couldn't find pictures of the American flag," recalls Paula Weiser, president and chief executive, "so we thought that preparing a poster would be a nice gesture."
She adds, "Within 36 hours, our 19-member team had designed this poster and begun printing a run of 5,000 copies. We decided to offer to send the poster at no charge to anyone who requested it." (The company asks for a $1 donation per copy for quantities over three.)
But an early recipient posted a notice of the offer on the Internet; soon the company was all but overwhelmed by the response—and by the notoriety it gained. CNN, Time, and Newsweek all paid visits to the company, and every major TV and radio network, including Telemundo, NPR, and The David Letterman Show, arrived to prepare a segment on the project.
Weiser Litho was also visited by a parade of celebrities, as well as by people who knew victims of the attacks.
To date, says Weiser, about 168,000 17x22" "United We Stand" posters have been printed and shipped, to every state in the union (copies were sent to the White House) as well as to dozens of countries. Capitol Records used the poster image for the cover of a benefit CD it released, and more than 20 high schools have requested permission to use the image for their yearbook covers.
"We've received voluntary contributions of more than $58,000, which we've donated directly to the relief efforts of New York City," Weiser concludes.
The Patriot Award is only the second-ever presented by the printing association.
