That would seem to make them a great place to put an ad message--and an even better place to engage that bank customer.

What JWT in Australia came up with was the ultimate engagement: Origami ads.

ATM receipts from Australia's HSBC bank are now printed with instructions for creating origami sculptures, five in all, a car, a house, a piggy bank, a mouse and a Chinese restaurant takeout container.

Each is really an ad for a service the bank offers beyond checking. The car is for insurance, the piggy bank for savings accounts, the house for the mortgages it offers, the mouse for its online banking service and the takeout box for its credit card services.

The idea for the origami sculptures emerged from brainstorming sessions in response to a request from the bank to come up with a smart way to promote its other services.

“We set ourselves a task to create something people might want to interact and spend time with,” says Richard Apps, creative group head at JWT Sydney. “We explored quite a few areas, but the origami idea captured our imagination straight away and was the best fit for delivering the product information.”

Says Penny Sarfati, client services director at the agency: "The idea for using ATM receipts stemmed from the fact that ATMs are a place where customers are already interacting with the bank. Millions of people every day across Australia use ATMs, so that seemed the perfect place to start.”

The campaign began this past summer and will run until the printed receipts run out.