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Post Office TV Commercial tries to pull online customers away

By Guest Opinion

Oregon Small Business Association

The latest U.S. Post Office TV commercial is trying to get the public to take a great leap backwards by not engaging in online transactions. The Post Office commercial tries to strike a wedge between online and postal commerce by using the security card. Here is what the post office TV commercial says as it shows families putting important letters on the kitchen refrigerator and corkboard:

“A refrigerator has never been hacked. An online virus has never attacked a corkboard. Give your customers an added feeling of security of printed statement that a receipt provides. With mail.”

On one hand, the Post Office is doing the right thing by finding reasons for customers to change their behavior and switch. Security is a good reason. But the question arises on whether consumers will view it as a complete reason. Is not mail subject to identity theft just as much as online transactions? Another question that came to mind while watching this commercial is this effort trying to stop an unavoidable technology trend. While other post offices from other nations have chosen to expand services as a way of adapting to the times (cell-phones, email), it looks like the U.S. Postal Service is attempting to pull customers back from the future. This ad campaign seems like a huge risk to the Post Office. The results of risk taking may prove beneficial as the final verdict is the sales numbers after teh TV ad has run.

See the Post Office Commercial Here