As seen in Forbes and Investment Dealers Digest

How to measure whether a banker is having a good year:
Count his pieces of Lucite.

The Art of the Deal Toy (excerpted from Forbes 12/27/99)
By Chana Schoenberger

YOU MIGHT CONSIDER Edward M. Strauss a lagging indicator for the mergers-and-acquisitions business. Ed's not a guy who makes deals, but his company, Arrow Advertising, does make deal toys, those polymethyl methacrylate tchotchkes that give meaning to an investment banker's life.

After each successful deal, banks commission deal toys emblazoned with names of the institutions involved and other particulars. Costing from $20 to $100 each, they line the credenzas of all the egos involved in the transaction.

Strauss says his $4 million deal-toy business has doubled recently; he now gets 75 orders a month for about 25 baubles apiece.

The deal-toy crowd often wonders if the trend will turn. "Is there too much plastic in offices?" asks Strauss. But even an economic downturn wouldn't be a disaster. Says he, "We do deal toys for bankruptcies, too."

Arrow Advertising
386 Park Ave South, Suite 705
New York, NY 10016
phone: 212-684-6400, ext 10
fax: 212-951-7314
email: mail@dealgifts.com

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American Express accepted