Stat of the Day

USPS Wasted $1.2 Million on 'Simpsons' Stamps

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Esther Zuckerman 2,023 Views Aug 22, 2012

In a blunder of Homer-sized proportions, the Postal Service spent $1.2 million too much in printing one billion commemorative Simpsons stamps, only 318 million of which sold, Bloomberg's Angela Greiling Keane reports. The findings come from a report by the Postal Service's inspector general, which pointed to The Simpsons as a money suck. Per the report: "we found the Postal Service overproduced 2 billion commemorative and special issue stamps during calendar years 2009 and 2010, resulting in $2 million of unnecessary manufacturing costs annually for stamps that were later destroyed." The Simpsons stamps were on sale in those years to mark the 20th anniversary of the cartoon. 

Though the Postal Service may be regarded as a creaky relic like Mr. Burns, it only wishes that it has Springfield's richest man's financial security. Keane noted that it recently posted a third-quarter $5.2 billion loss. 

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