In 1996, I sent a letter to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kenneth Clarke, outlining the benefits of selling advertising space on currency. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I received no reply.
Many people would be horrified if any form of advertising was to appear on their notes and coins, although I can think of no rational explanation as to why anyone would find this an offensive or repulsive idea. It would merely be a superficial change to an everyday material item and should cause no more or less concern than a design change to a logo on a box of cereal.
Just as there is advertising in public toilets to pay for the maintenance and cleaning of those toilets, there could be advertising on currency to pay for the upkeep of the country.
Governments are forever in need of extra revenue to fund public services but at the same time they are under pressure to keep taxes at a minimum. Selling advertising space on currency would produce a whole new revenue stream which would effectively be an optional tax payable by large companies who would at least be getting something in return for their outlay.
I would expect the demand for advertising space on currency would be massive. Since the advent of cable and satellite TV and the vast array of television channels, the value of television advertising has become greatly diluted. In addition to this, newspaper advertising is becoming increasingly less effective as newspaper sales have decreased with the growing popularity of the Internet.
Advertising on currency would offer multi national companies an alternative to television and newspaper advertising as a way of getting a product to become a household name. It would arguably be more effective than television and newspaper advertising as the fruits of a single advertising campaign would be around for years to come, passing through the hands of an entire nation.
It would relieve the tax burden on the general public and it would improve and maintain public services. The demand is there. The revenues would be massive. So why isn't anyone doing it?
