Many consumers are irked by the catalogs, credit-card pitches and other "junk mail" they receive. But the U.S. Postal Service loves it—and wants to deliver more.
The agency, beset by historic losses and a plummet in first-class mail, is running promotions, easing rules and planning television and radio ads to encourage more businesses to send pitches by standard mail, the official term for bulk mailings used by marketers to prospect for customers.
"What we want to do is to make standard mail more interesting for customers so we can grow the total volume," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in an interview. "We don't call it junk mail—it's a lucrative avenue for anyone who wants to reach customers."
"Make standard mail more interesting"? Oh, brother, what a crock. Sorry, Mr. Donahoe, out here in postal-customer land, "junk mail" is exactly what we call it because that's exactly what it is. The stuff piles up in corners and spills off of tables and generally clutters our houses and offices. You want to save yourself by creating more of the crap we have to figure out how to get rid of? Please.
