OFFICE EQUIPMENT: The Colonel Plugged 'Em

The Colonel Plugged 'Em

No one paid him to do it, but Lieut. Colonel Oliver North gave what was probably one of 1987's more successful celebrity endorsements. The product: Schleicher & Co. paper shredders. After North told congressional investigators of his "shredding parties," in which he reportedly used a Schleicher Intimus 007 S, the West German firm was flooded with inquiries. Schleicher's 1987 sales jumped by as much as 20%.

Secrecy, it seems, is everywhere at a premium. Schleicher sells to schools as well as corporations in 110 countries. The company can even boast that the Intimus 007 S is Ayatullah-proof. By converting a piece...

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