AdPack USA
AdPack USA is a New York-based tissue-pack marketing company that uses free, branded tissue packets as an intercept and promotional advertising medium.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
AdPack USA is a New York-based marketing company focused on advertising distributed through small packets of tissues. Founded in 2004, it operated as a division of Itochu International, the North American organization associated with Japanese trading company ITOCHU Corporation. Rather than relying primarily on conventional print, broadcast, or digital placements, the company developed an intercept-marketing format in which branded tissue packs were handed out free of charge in locations with substantial pedestrian traffic or delivered through direct-mail and other targeted distribution channels. The company introduced its first tissue advertising in New York in 2005. The format gave advertisers a compact physical item that could carry logos, messages, promotional artwork, or entertainment branding while also providing a practical product to recipients. This combination of utility, portability, and street-level distribution positioned the tissue packet as a low-cost promotional alternative and as a form of ambient or experiential advertising. Reported American clients included Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Five Below retail stores, and Lowe's, indicating use across insurance, financial services, retail, and home-improvement categories. AdPack USA also promoted an environmentally oriented version of its product. Its green tissue packs used renewable-resource materials for both the packaging and tissues, with the stated objective that the materials would be biodegradable and sourced from forests where resources were harvested and replanted. The environmental proposition was part of the company's effort to make a disposable promotional item more acceptable to advertisers and recipients. The brand's documented campaign activity included large-scale promotional distribution for Bloom Supermarkets and several Broadway productions. In 2007, it produced 50,000 tissue packs for Bloom Supermarkets. It subsequently worked with Legally Blonde The Musical, A Catered Affair, Young Frankenstein, and 9 to 5. These partnerships used different distribution methods, including street teams around Times Square and TKTS ticket-booth areas, direct mail, and eco-friendly tissue-pack programs. The Broadway work illustrated how AdPack USA adapted its medium to entertainment marketing: packets could carry show branding and be distributed near theaters or other places where potential ticket buyers congregated. The Legally Blonde campaign was reported as the company's first Broadway musical partnership. More than 20,000 branded packs were distributed near Times Square beginning in October 2007, after the show had opened and shortly after the Broadway strike. Reference material describes a campaign investment of approximately $10,000 and associates the activity with approximately $150,000 in ticket sales, although the underlying attribution and measurement methodology are not detailed in the available material. Later Broadway programs included a 10,000-piece distribution for A Catered Affair in spring 2008, roughly 10,000 packets for Young Frankenstein through direct mail before its January 2009 closure, and 20,000 eco-friendly packets for 9 to 5 before that production closed in September 2009. Available reference material provides more information about the company's early operations and campaigns than about its later corporate activity, leadership, financial performance, or current commercial status. Accordingly, AdPack USA's present operating status and current product portfolio cannot be confirmed from the supplied sources. Its documented identity remains that of an Itochu-associated promotional-marketing business specializing in branded tissue-pack advertising.
History
AdPack USA was established in 2004 as a tissue-pack marketing business associated with Itochu International, the North American division of ITOCHU Corporation. Its business model centered on intercept marketing: advertisers placed promotional messages on packets of tissues that were distributed free to consumers in public spaces, through street teams, by direct mail, or in other targeted settings. The company introduced its first documented tissue advertising in New York in 2005. The format provided advertisers with a physical and useful giveaway rather than a purely informational handout. A tissue packet could be carried away, retained for later use, and repeatedly expose the recipient to the advertiser's branding. Early reported clients included Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Five Below, and Lowe's, showing that the medium was used by organizations in several consumer-facing industries. AdPack USA developed an environmental variation of its product during its early period. The company's green tissue packs were described as using renewable resources for the tissue and packaging, with materials intended to be biodegradable. The company also stated that the relevant forest resources were harvested and replanted. This sustainability feature gave marketers an alternative to conventional disposable promotional materials, although the supplied references do not provide independent lifecycle assessments or later verification of the environmental claims. Campaign work expanded into retail, public-service-style promotion, and entertainment. In 2007, the company produced 50,000 tissue packs for Bloom Supermarkets. It also received trade attention for its international expansion, including a reported opening for business in London. During the same period, the company participated in Broadway marketing through relationships involving Brand Marketers and other promotional partners. Legally Blonde The Musical was identified as AdPack USA's first Broadway musical partnership. More than 20,000 branded tissue packs were distributed near Times Square beginning in October 2007. The campaign followed the show's opening and the Broadway strike, and the available reference material associates a roughly $10,000 media purchase with approximately $150,000 in ticket sales. The evidence supplied does not explain the attribution basis for that sales figure, so it should be treated as a reported campaign result rather than a independently verified financial performance measure. AdPack USA later worked with A Catered Affair, distributing 10,000 pieces around TKTS ticket-booth stations in spring 2008. The activity was connected to the production's management relationship with Serino Coine and took place shortly before the show closed in July 2008. The company also partnered with Young Frankenstein, using direct mail to distribute about 10,000 tissue packs before the production's January 2009 closure. Its documented Broadway activity culminated, in the supplied material, with a 20,000-piece eco-friendly tissue-pack campaign for 9 to 5; that production closed in September 2009. The available sources focus on AdPack USA's formation, early product concept, environmental positioning, and campaigns through the late 2000s. They do not establish a current website, current executives, subsequent ownership changes, financial results, or confirmed present-day operating status. The company's documented historical significance lies in its effort to turn a low-cost practical item into a measurable, location-based advertising channel and to apply that channel to retail and Broadway promotion.
- 2009
9 to 5 eco-friendly tissue-pack campaign
[1]AdPack USA establishes a 20,000-piece distribution of eco-friendly tissue packs for the Broadway production 9 to 5.
- 2008
A Catered Affair campaign
[1]Approximately 10,000 tissue packs are distributed near TKTS ticket-booth locations for A Catered Affair.
- 2008
Young Frankenstein direct-mail campaign
[1]The company distributes about 10,000 tissue packs for Young Frankenstein through direct mail.
- 2007
Bloom Supermarkets tissue-pack production
[1]AdPack USA produces 50,000 tissue packs for Bloom Supermarkets.
- 2007
First Broadway musical partnership
[1]AdPack USA partners with Legally Blonde The Musical and distributes more than 20,000 branded tissue packs near Times Square.
- 2005
First New York tissue advertising
[1]The company introduces its tissue-pack advertising format in New York.
- 2004
AdPack USA is founded
[1]AdPack USA is established as a tissue-pack marketing business operating within the Itochu International organization.
Products and positioning
A practical, low-cost intercept-marketing medium that combines promotional messaging with a useful giveaway item, with an additional sustainability-oriented proposition through renewable and biodegradable tissue-pack materials.
Promotional advertising medium · 2005
Branded tissue packs
Small packets of tissues printed or packaged with an advertiser's branding and promotional message. AdPack USA used the packets as free giveaways in high-footfall locations, allowing the item to function both as a useful consumer product and as a portable advertising surface.
Sustainable promotional product
Green tissue packs
An environmentally positioned version of the company's tissue-pack product. The packaging and tissues were described as being made from renewable resources and designed to be biodegradable, with the source forests described as being replanted after harvesting.
Marketing service · 2005
Intercept-marketing distribution
A campaign service built around distributing branded tissue packs directly to consumers. Programs could use street teams, public-space sampling, direct mail, or placement near retail and entertainment destinations such as Times Square and TKTS ticket-booth areas.
Marketing campaigns
- 20099 to 5
New York City · United States
The company arranged a 20,000-piece distribution of eco-friendly tissue packs for the Broadway musical 9 to 5. The production closed on September 6, 2009.
- 2008A Catered Affair
New York City · United States
About 10,000 tissue packs were distributed by Street Sampling near TKTS ticket-booth stations shortly before the Broadway production closed in July 2008.
- 2008Young Frankenstein
United States
AdPack USA distributed approximately 10,000 branded tissue packs through direct-mail marketing before the Broadway production closed in January 2009.
- 2007Bloom Supermarkets tissue-pack campaign
United States
AdPack USA produced 50,000 tissue packs for Bloom Supermarkets, illustrating the use of the medium for retail promotion.
- 2007Legally Blonde The Musical
New York City · United States
AdPack USA's first documented Broadway musical partnership used more than 20,000 branded tissue packs distributed near Times Square from October 2007. The campaign was arranged through Brand Marketers.
Outcome. Reference material reports approximately $150,000 in ticket sales in connection with an approximately $10,000 media buy, although the measurement method is not specified.
Brand decisions
2007
Adoption of environmentally positioned tissue packsStrategyBackground
AdPack USA sought to make its disposable promotional format more environmentally acceptable by developing tissue packs and packaging described as using renewable resources and biodegradable materials.
Action taken
The company offered green tissue packs whose materials were described as being sourced from renewable resources and replanted forests.
Aftermath
The eco-friendly format was subsequently used in the 9 to 5 Broadway campaign, but the supplied sources do not establish its broader commercial performance.
Recent events
- 2009
AdPack USA launches an eco-friendly 9 to 5 campaign[1]
Campaign
AdPack USA arranged a 20,000-piece distribution of eco-friendly tissue packs for the Broadway musical 9 to 5.
- 2008
AdPack USA supports A Catered Affair promotion[1]
Campaign
About 10,000 tissue packs were distributed by a street team around TKTS ticket-booth locations in support of the Broadway musical A Catered Affair.
- 2008
AdPack USA promotes Young Frankenstein through direct mail[1]
Campaign
The company partnered with Young Frankenstein and distributed approximately 10,000 branded tissue packs through direct-mail marketing before the production closed.
- 2007
AdPack USA produces 50,000 tissue packs for Bloom Supermarkets[1]
Campaign
The company produced a large tissue-pack promotion for Bloom Supermarkets, demonstrating the use of its medium for retail marketing.
- 2007
AdPack USA expands its tissue-pack marketing activity to London[1]
Other
Trade coverage reported the company's opening for business in London, indicating an expansion beyond its New York and wider U.S. activity.
- 2007
AdPack USA develops renewable-resource tissue packs[1]
Product launch
The company publicized tissue packs and packaging made from renewable resources and designed to be biodegradable, with materials described as coming from replanted forests.
- 2007
AdPack USA partners with Legally Blonde The Musical[1]
Campaign · Product launch
The company began its first documented Broadway musical partnership, distributing more than 20,000 branded tissue packs near Times Square from October 2007.
- 2005
AdPack USA introduces tissue-pack advertising in New York[1]
Product launch
AdPack USA began its documented New York tissue-advertising activity, distributing branded tissue packets as a promotional medium.
Sources6 sources
- 1AdPack USAen.wikipedia.org
- 2AdPack USA opens for business in Londonmarketingweek.com
- 3Advertising on Tissuesmobiz.com
- 4U.S. Army and Ad Council Use Tissue Packaging to Promote Campaignnydailynews.com
- 5AdPack USA Launches Tissue Pack Design Contestgraphics.com
- 6Commerce Bank Distributes Tissues to Customers and Prospectsbusinessword.com
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