A pennysaver (or free ads paper, Friday Ad or shopper) is a free community periodical available in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(typically weekly or monthly publications) that advertises items for sale. Frequently pennysavers are actually called ''The Pennysaver'' (variants include ''Penny Saver'', ''Penny-saver'', ''PennySaver''). It usually contains

classified ads Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

grouped into

categories Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

. Many pennysavers also offer local news and entertainment, as well as generic advice information, various syndicated or locally written columns on various topics of interest, limited comics and primetime TV listings. The term is widely used in eastern North America from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

through

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, though there are pennysavers elsewhere. Pennysavers are sometimes published by a locally dominant daily newspaper as a

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

of their publication and featuring advertisements published in the same style as the parent newspaper. ''The PennySaver'' was a publication distributed in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Formerly owned by

Harte-Hanks Harte Hanks is a global marketing services company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Harte Hanks services include analytics, strategy, marketing technology, creative services, digital marketing, customer care, direct mail, logistics, and ful ...

, it and its website
PennySaverUSA.com
were sold to

OpenGate Capital Andrew Nikou is the founder and CEO of OpenGate Capital, a global private buyout firm. The firm is focused on the acquisition of lower to middle market businesses that are often privately owned, or non-core divisions of larger companies located ar ...

in 2013. The publication went out of business in May 2015. OpenGate was subsequently sued for not providing proper notice before firing hundreds of employees. In May 2016, a group of former ''PennySaver'' employees resurrected the publication in southern California's Inland Empire and northern Orange County.

In popular culture

The ''Pennysaver'' plays a significant role in the 2007 film ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

'', in which the main character, Juno, searches for adoptive parents for her unborn child in the publication. In a Season 6 episode of ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...

'', Episode 18: "Older and Wiser," both

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

and Blanche are hired to model for a local pennysaver. The two begin to bicker over who has the prettier face and hands, but the joke is on them: When the pennysaver is delivered, they find out that they appear in an ad for beauty cream—as "before" models. In a

Season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

episode of the CBS comedy ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

'', Episode 10: "Something Salty and Twisted", Alan Harper, played by

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

, has a feature article written of him titled "ALAN HARPER: Good Doctor, Good Neighbor, Good Guy." in the Tarzana PennySaver. It is revealed that to be featured in the article he had to buy advertisements in the paper. In a Season 1 episode of the NBC comedy '' Save Me'', Episode 6: "Heavenly Hostess", Beth Harper, played by Anne Heche, is told by God that she needs to have a garage sale. After multiple people start showing up to her address for a yard sale that was advertised in the PennySaver, she comes to the realization that God placed the ad in the PennySaver to make sure that she has her garage sale on that specific day. In a Season 6 episode of the NBC comedy ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

'', Episode 3: "The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic", Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman, receives the Pawnee PennySaver in the mail at his girlfriend's residence, which sends him on an overzealous quest to get off the grid. When Ron asks, “Who or what is PennySaver?”, Tom Haverford, played by Aziz Ansari, responds, “It’s a free circular with a bunch of coupons in it”. In a Season 5 episode of the CBS drama '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', Episode 13: "Allegiance", when Special Agent G. Callen and Special Agent Sam Hanna (played by Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J) interview a suspect, they are surprised to find that he isn't a threat, but instead an ambitious entrepreneur wanting to get his brand out there with his chosen method, the PennySaver.NCIS: Los Angeles Knows About the Benefits of Advertising in the PennySaver
In a Season 1 episode of ''

Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American List of coming-of-age stories, coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel ...

'', Episode 4: Sheldon is taken to a psychiatrist to overcome his fear of eating solid food. While he and his folks sit on the couch Sheldon's father ask him if he has got a coupon from the pennysaver, to save same money. In the 2011 non-fiction book ''It Chooses You'', author

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

interviewed thirteen ''PennySaver'' sellers in Los Angeles to create portraits of their surprisingly moving, profoundly specific realities.

References

{{Authority control Newspapers published in Canada Newspapers published in the United States Advertising