We probably all remember the one or other advertising poster that we have been passing by for some weeks. For example, the one at the travel agency with the golden-tanned couple walking the white sand beaches, the azure blue sea and waving palm trees, with pillowy-white clouds floating in an aquamarine sky. After several weeks though, that idyllic poster is no longer nice, because some colors obviously are heavily faded or changed.

The effects of weather - sunlight, temperature, and moisture - can make printing inks change appearance caused by pigment and paper degradation. The same can happen to polymers used in outdoor or indoor applications. Product aging caused by weather stress sometimes appears faster than expected – a very unpleasant experience. A typical reason for premature product failure can be wrongly selected or insufficiently levelled UV-stabilizers. An impressive example of premature failure had been the red seats of the Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, which degraded much too fast due to missing UV inhibitors. “The original red seats, designed to match the Buccaneers' uniforms, had faded to “an unsightly pink over six years 1998-2004, and the paint on the stanchions has bubbled and peeled.”