This newspaper repels mosquitoes and helps fight disease

Once you’re done reading them, newspapers are still pretty handy to keep around. They make decent makeshift umbrellas and fans, and they’re great for starting fires. Now there’s even a newspaper that can repel mosquitoes.

The Mawbima News is one of Sri Lanka’s most widely-read newspapers, and the publisher wanted to do something to show support for World Health Day. Dengue fever is still a big problem in Sri Lanka, where more than 16,000 cases were reported in 2013. The illness is spread by mosquitoes, so Mawbima teamed up with creatives from Leo Burnett on a campaign to help keep locals fever-free.

What they came up with was citronella-infused ink. Citronella oil has long been used as an insect repellent, though you’re obviously much more likely to find it in sprays, soaps, or candles and lamp oil than you are on the pages of a daily newspaper. According to Mawbima, this was the first time it’s ever been done.

It’s an incredibly clever way to offer a bit of widespread protection, and it also helped get the message about Dengue fever out to Mawbima’s readers. Clearly, Sri Lankans were very excited about the idea of a newspaper that could repel mosquitoes. Mawbima’s circulation increased by more than 300,000 during the campaign.

In addition to the bug-busting ink, Mawbima and Leo Burnett developed a special font which featured Sinhalese characters “stamping out” mosquitoes. It’s a pretty slick design: