Association for Postal Commerce
"Representing those who use or support the use of mail for Business Communication and Commerce"
"You will be able to enjoy only those postal rights you believe are worth defending."

1901 N. Fort Myer Dr., Ste 401 * Arlington, VA 22209-1609 * Ph.: +1 703 524 0096 * Fax: +1 703 524 1871

How to Deal with "Do Not Mail" Mania

PURPOSE AND USE

There's that line from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" that goes: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." These days in the mailing industry undoubtedly are not the best of times. They may not be the worst either, but they certainly are challenging. For the past three years, those who use mail for business communication and commerce have had to deal with unrelenting attacks by self-styled critics of our industry and practices who are relentlessly pursuing state and federal legislation that would stringently limit your ability to use mail within your business.

These critics come in various guises. The most common centers on their "concern" over the environmental impact of mail. According to the stories they tell, anyone who uses mail within their business is guilty of destroying the world's forests, polluting our air and water, overfilling our landfills, and just about every other nasty behavior one can imagine.

In making their claims, they claim to offer "facts." What they offer instead are lies, myths, and the sharing of a general ignorance of who uses mail, the purposes for which it is used, the environmentally sound aspects of doing business by mail, and just about every other of the common sense and good economic reasons why the establishment and maintenance of a universal mail delivery system has been a hallmark of every country around the world.

Despite the old saying of "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me, the repetition of lies our antagonists would like the public to believe is affecting our public perception. PostCom believes a proactive campaign is necessary if these efforts are to be overcome. It's time our industry took up the responsibility to promote the value of the mail to our businesses, our employees, and our customers.

This Media Kit has been created and funded by one of PostCom's members to help you fight for your business and a healthy Postal Service. It is a work in process. Updates, revisions and additions will be made. You can obtain electronic copies of the materials in this Media Kit by contacting the PostCom office.

You are welcome to use this Media Kit and the materials in any way that helps your business, and fosters our common goals of preserving and promoting the use of the mail for business communication and commerce.

The materials include model letters you can revise as you see fit to tell your employees and advertisers about the value of the mail and your response to junk mail attacks. There are also letters to the media and any group that is out to destroy your business by funding or supporting antimail legislation or negative consumer attitudes. There are fact sheets you can use on your company website, or otherwise, about the benefits of mail, and the real impact of ad mail on the enviornment.

Links To Important Information You Can Use