Sumitomo was a giant Japanese steelmaker that developed a special super-tough steel pipe. They were sure that it would be snapped up by the Americans.

It was a good product, but there was one problem. Sumitomo had hired a Japanese advertising agency instead of an American one.

The agency named the steel pipe Sumitomo High Toughness, to show up its strength. BUt to make it all easier to remember, the agency decided to emphasise the initials of the Sumitomo High Toughness steel pipe as a sort of shortened brand name. So, in a series of huge two-page ads in major business magazines throughout the United Startes, startled customers saw ads like this:

SHT-from Sumitomo
Now, Sumitomo brings SHT to the United States

At the bottom of the ads, Sumitomo assured customers that their product 'was made to match its name'.


TEEHEE ^^"