The task of trying to sell the virtues of physical mail delivery reminds one of the old Crazy People parody of a Volvo ad: "They're boxy but they're good." That's true! The lesson: sell what you have. Which is exactly what the latest marketing campaign for the U.S. Postal Service is trying to do. There are some good things about the mail! "A refrigerator has never been hacked," the calm narrator the new Postal Service ad "Hacked" explains. We're not sure if that selling point will be enough for the mail system to stave off bankruptcy but it does have the benefit of being technically correct. Still, even though the manager of advertising and media planning for the Postal Service told The Washington Post, "We're not trying to be Luddites here," the end result looks like that Mad Men episode where the ad men brainstormed ways to sell the telegram:

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Erik Hayden