Flyer (pamphlet)

Leaflets being handed out in New York City (1973)
Hundreds of flyers litter the streets in South Beach, Miami. Scenes like these are not uncommon in cities known for their nightlife
Distribution of leaflets over Afghanistan by the U.S. military in 2010
Flyers pasted to a wall in Haikou, Hainan Province, China

A flyer or flier, also called a circular, handbill or leaflet, is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in a public place or through the mail.

Flyers may be used by individuals, businesses, or organizations to:

Like postcards, pamphlets and small posters, flyers are a low-cost form of mass marketing or communication. There are many different flyer formats. Some examples are:

Common Sense was a pamphlet that was distributed proceeding the American Revolution

Flyers are inexpensive to produce. Their widespread use intensified with the spread of desktop publishing systems. In recent years, the production of flyers through traditional printing services has been supplanted by Internet services; customers may send designs and receive final products by mail.

But flyers are not a new medium: prior to the War of American Independence some colonists were outraged with the Stamp Act (1765) and gathered together in anti-stamp act congresses. In these congresses they had to win support, and issued handbills and leaflets, pamphlets, along with other paraphernalia, to do so.

Today, some jurisdictions have laws or ordinances banning or restricting leafleting or flyering, and owners of private property may put up signs saying "Post No Bills"; this occurs particularly on wooden fences surrounding building sites or vacant lots.

Distribution and use

Flyers are handed out on the street (a practice known as flyering or leafleting), posted on bulletin boards, or given away at events. Bulletin boards are found on college campuses, in cafés, community meeting houses, laundromats and small markets.

Cheap to produce, contemporary flyers are frequently produced in 300 g/m2 glossy card, whereas a leaflet might be produced on a 130 g/m2–170 g/m2 weight paper and can be a very effective form of direct marketing.

San Francisco has a long history of flyering. The first flyer company was The Thumbtack Bugle, which has been around for over twenty-five years. Haight Street is very popular for posting on telephone poles. Flyers have become an integral aspect to the Edinburgh Fringe, where flyers are handed to people on the Royal Mile.

More recently, there is also the process of sending flyers through email, a tactic that businesses and event promoters may choose to use to avoid spending money on paper and other resources required for printing. The flyer may be embedded into the body of the email or added as an attachment to be opened.

See also

References

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    External links

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