>US Postal Service Declares R2-D2 Dead for Over Five Years!
…well almost… (or did they see the prequels?)
You see, the USPS has new mailboxes… or shall I say ‘mail-droids’? Images have leaked of the United States Postal Service’s new mailboxes that feature ‘R2-D2′ as the mail box, and the USPS has rules against anyone who is still alive being represented on stamps. Well, there’s now a rumor that this is going to be the year of Star Wars stamps too! I would assume the rules would also govern a person or characters use as a promtional mailbox as well. (Wouldn’t that be even more exposure? Why would a rule govern stamps but not other aspects of the United States Postal Service? Oh yeah… Money.)
(KUDOS to TheForce.Net for their scoop on the photos of these mailboxes. Click this link for more great photos of the mailboxes.)First and foremost… I really enjoy the idea of these mailboxes, and would love to own one… Uhhh… See my ‘R2-D2 Collectable?’ message at the bottom…
However, there is a disturbance in The Force (TM)… Is it right for the United States Postal Service to license and employ (deploy?) commercial characters to promote a public service?
Are WE paying higher prices because of multi-million dollar promotional deals for public service items? There are clearly a number of political problems in question here…
As rumored, will there also be Star Wars stamps?
While I don’t know if there are going to be stamps that go with R2, there are rules against such stamps. You see there are the 12 major criteria now guiding stamp subject selection… here’s what I found relevant:
2. No living person shall be honored by portrayal on U.S. postage.
3. Commemorative stamps or postal stationery items honoring individuals usually will be issued on, or in conjunction with significant anniversaries of their birth, but no postal item will be issued sooner than five years after the individual’s death.
4. Events of historical significance shall be considered for commemoration only on anniversaries in multiples of 50 years. (That would make the release of Star Wars eligible in 2027… or in another 20 years given the fact that Star Wars is 30 years old this year).
6. …Stamps or stationery shall not be issued to promote or advertise commercial enterprises or products. Commercial products or enterprises might be used to illustrate more general concepts related to American culture. (’Movies,’ ‘Science Fiction,’ ‘Robots’… are NOT being promoted here… STAR WARS is. Would anyone argue that STAR WARS is not a ‘commercial enterprise or product’?)
9. Stamps or stationery items shall not be issued to honor religious institutions or individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings or beliefs. (Did you know that there was a major movement in the United Kingdom to have ‘Jedi Knight’ considered a religious status?)
12. No stamp shall be considered for issuance if one treating the same subject has been issued in the past 50 years. The only exceptions to this rule are traditional themes such as national symbols and holidays. (While not quite a part of this story, I thought it should be noted, that it might be time to get those Muppet, Disney, and potential Star Wars stamps while you can… They won’t be eligible again for fifty years!)
(For a complete list of the rules, click here.)
The ultimate R2-D2 collectible?
I can only speculate the potential madness that is going to come over the Star Wars collectors of the US.”How can I get one of those R2-D2 mailboxes for my collection?” (You can bet that the USPS will offer ones for sale like the miniature versions of the ‘blue’ mailboxes you can buy at any post office… (with TM Lucasfilm stamped on the bottom?))
Order your official USPS BLUE miniature collectible mailbox here.But what about the ‘real ones’…I can just see the headlines now:“MAILBOXES ACROSS THE COUNTRY DISAPPEAR AS STAR WARS COLLECTORS TAKE THEIR ‘HOLY GRAIL’ THE R2-D2 MAILBOX!”Just imagine those people who simply MUST have an R2-D2 mailbox today. I’d bet that they are only going to be placed in ‘new’ or ‘replacement’ locations. Uhh… did I just say… ‘replacement’ locations? I can just imagine a fan ‘removing’ a blue box now so that an R2-D2 will be put in its place. What are they then going to do? Take the R2 and put the blue box back? The one message I don’t see on the new boxes is the federal offense for theft warning.
and finally…
“STAR WARS COLLECTING GRINDS TO A HALT AS COLLECTORS ARE JAILED FOR FELONY THEFT OF MAILBOXES!”
NOW I THINK I KNOW WHY the costs of First Class postage is going up to .41!
(USA Today has a great ‘no-hype’ article about the postage increase and the new ‘Forever’ stamp. I highly recommend that you read it.)
In the end, I HAVE to stop and say that it’s a brilliant piece of marketing. Whether or not I agree with the idea politically or ethically, it’s certainly going to be interesting to see if the R2-D2 mailboxes are just the tip of the iceberg, or if we have so much more to look forward to.
…and what exactly is going to be at… http://www.uspsjedimaster.com?
If you thought this was foolish, check these out: