contents

taking

carefully

plastic

packaging

declined

freely

typical

contracts

registered If the package looks pretty, people will buy just about anything. So says an advertising executive in New York, and he has proved his point by selling boxes of rubbish for the price of an expensive bottle of wine. Justin Gignac, 26, has sold almost 900 ____41_____ presented plastic boxes of rubbish from the street of the Big Apple at between $50 and $100 each. Buyers from 19 countries have paid for the souvenirs(纪念品). The idea has been so successful that he is thinking of promoting it around the world. It all began when Mr. Gignac was at a summer workshop. “We had a discussion about he importance of ____42___,” he recalls. “Someone said packaging was unimportant. I disagreed. The only way to prove it was by selling something nobody would ever want.” He searches the streets of Manhattan and typical ___43___ include broken glass, subway tickets, Starbucks cups and used ___44____ forks. “Special editions” are offered at a high price. He charged $100 for rubbish from the opening day of the New York Yankees’ stadium. Mr. Gignac denies ____45___ his customers for fools: “They know what they’re getting. They appreciate the fact that they’re taking something nobody would want and finding beauty in it.” Some _____46___ customers include people who used to live in the city and want a down-to-earth souvenir. He claims he has even sold to art collectors. Realizing that the concept appears to be a real money-maker, Mr. Gignac has ___47___ a company and is employing his girlfriend as vice president. He ___48___ to discuss his profit margins: “It’s actually quite a lot of effort putting them together—but yet, garbage is free.” Mr. Gignac is considering more varieties of souvenirs. He maintains that he has signed ___49___ with people interested in similar projects from as far as Berlin and London. 41.___________