Oakville, ON - Sanford® Canada today unveiled the results to a national interactive writing trends survey, citing that 86 per cent of Canadians still fancy a pen or pencil over a laptop or PDA when taking notes. The survey is part of the national launch of innovative, fun and fashionable pens and pencils for the Canadian market from Sanford's leading brands being shown today at the brand new Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.

The makers of Paper Mate® pens and mechanical pencils, uni-ball® pens, Accent® highlighters, Sharpie® markers, Colorific® and Laurentien® coloured pencils and Waterman® and Parker® fine-writing pens recently commissioned a survey of more than 1,500 Canadians* to determine writing trends and the products Canadians most frequently use.

"Canadians are passionate about their pens and we're excited to be able to offer them the leading brands for pens as well as pencils, markers, highlighters and correction products with the features they want and need for use at work, at home and at school. We have more than a dozen brands and over 4,000 products that our consumers have come to know, love and trust," says Gino Tersigni, vice president, general manager, Sanford Canada. "According to the survey, approximately 90 per cent of Canadians indicate that the function and performance of their pen - such as ease-of-use and reliability - as well as the pen grip, are the most important features when purchasing a pen.

Today, we're launching a variety of writing tools that meet and even exceed on delivering these features and more, including the Paper Mate POGO", the Paper Mate X-tend", and the uni-ball Fusion" Roller Ball Pen."

Sanford Canada "Write Stuff" Survey Results

The survey of handwriting trends reveals the following facts about what Canadians want from their everyday writing instruments:

• Eighty-six per cent of Canadians choose a pen or pencil as their preferred writing instrument for note taking over a laptop or a PDA
• Nearly 40 per cent of Canadians would invest over $50 on a pen; 13 per cent of Canadians would spend over $100 on a pen
• The average Canadian spends up to $5 on their everyday pens
• Blue ink is the most popular ink colour among Canadian females, while black is the most popular ink colour among Canadian males; Blue ink still outsells black ink
• Few Canadians (six per cent) know that some famous people sign autographs with ink that contains their DNA so the autographs cannot be duplicated
• A Marriage Certificate and a Will were cited as the most important signed documents among Canadians

Introducing Fun, Innovative and Affordable Writing Instruments

Just in time for addressing summer wedding thank-you notes, writing vacation postcards to family and friends back home, or choosing the latest cool tools for back-to-school, Sanford Canada is proud to introduce new products available now at local retailers including:

• Paper Mate POGO" - The mini retractable pen that extends

  This mini ballpoint pen is for people on-the-go. It offers a soft rubber grip for comfort and control, and a convenient clip for easy attachment to a key ring, binder ring, belt loop or backpack. Available in lime green, cinnamon red and metallic blue packaging, this fun, refillable pen retails for a suggested $7.84.

• Paper Mate X-tend" Family of Products

  The Paper Mate X-tend Mechanical Pencil, Retractable Ball Point Pen and Stick Pen all offer an ultra soft "grip-to-the-tip" feature for superior comfort for a variety of writing styles. Available in an assortment of colours, these products retail for the suggested retail price starting from $1.60.

• uni-ball Fusion" Roller Ball Pen - From clear to colour instantly

  The first pen with clear to colour ink technology offers a smooth writing experience. A clear barrel reveals the amount of remaining ink in the pen. Available in four fashion colours - midnight, sky blue, amethyst and rose - this pen retails for the suggested retail price of $3.40.

• SHARPIE Metallic Silver Marker

  Perfect for marking dark surfaces including plastic, leather, wood, metal, photos and more, these Sharpie Metallic Silver Markers leave no mess. Available in one, two and four packs, these markers retail for a suggested price of $2.28.

About the Sanford Canada Survey

Sanford Canada commissioned an interactive survey of over 1,500 during the month of May 2003 for the purpose of finding out the writing habits and trends of Canadians, and to involve consumers in Sanford Canada's ongoing innovation and product development activities. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The confidential survey was conducted online at www.hotspex.com.

* - The survey was conducted in English, therefore Quebec is under-represented in all references to Canadians.