USPS Shilling for Disney: Anyone Else Object?

[control-z]

I don’t like it.

[slippery slope guy]What’s next, “The Washington Monument, broght to you by Viagra”?[/slippery slope guy]

[MovieMogul]

@ivylass

Didn’t they have Warner Bros characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc) on stamps awhile back?

Yes, though the story goes is that they extended the offer to Disney first, who balked at the idea since they’re highly protective of the images they license.

The Warner Bros. series began in 1997 and was a huge hit. The USPS didn’t have to pay any royalties to use the images, and WB stores (IIRC) could sell related merchandise (shirts, keychaines, magnets, etc.) out of their stores (though not the stamps themselves). It was the first major effort at corporate synergy and its success paved the way for additional cooperation from the folks at Disney, DC & Marvel, Lucasfilm and others.

These issues are also very profitable for the USPS because they’re designed specifically for collectors, and every stamp that is sold that is not processed is pure revenue for the government.

When the slate of 2007 stamps were announced a year ago, the Star Wars stamps were not included. They were a “surprise”, so it wouldn’t surprise me if similar surprises are announced in 2008 (though right now, the last Disney series are the only stamps I can think of for 2008 that have that cross-promotion value).

[BwanaBob]

@Polycarp

Bob, this was a well-thought-out and -expressed post generally, on the virtues of public commemoration. I’d like to nitpick one thing: there is one other general exception to the 10 year rule: The year after the death of a former U.S. President, a commemorative honoring his life is, or at least may be and usually is, issued. I believe the date of issue is often set for the late President’s birthday, but I don’t have a cite.

Someone linked to the rules on who may be depicted on a stamp and when a year or two ago, but I was not able to locate them in a quick Google.

I believe I pointed out the presidential exception. It’s even in your quote of my post.

BTW, since this is a zombie thread, the info I gave out was based on the old rules which have since been tweaked. The required time period has been reduced to 5 years dead. There was outcry over Rosa Parks not being honored after her passing and since she wasn’t eligible under the old rules, the complainers were somewhat appeased by shortening the waiting period.

[scotandrsn]

@Sal Ammoniac

…It used to be that our stamps, like our national monuments, had a kind of civic function – to honor what was distinguished, or at least distinctive. …

Your implication that certain other things the USPS commemorates on stamps are distinguished and distinctive, and that The Little Mermaid movie is not, seems to me to be strictly a matter of opinion and taste on your part.

ETA: I thought putting Elvis on a stamp was just as crass as you seem to find the presnece of TLM.

[Cartooniverse]

@Yllaria

And I think that Bugs and Daffy have had their turn. I like cartoons and think it’s great that cartoons are being given their cultural props.

I couldn’t agree more.

[silenus]

This is the thread that allowed me to buy stamps with my cats on them, so props to Garfield226 for the link. As for Disney…meh. I won’t buy them, but I have multiple sheets of the DC and Marvel stamps.

[Zsofia]

If you wanna beef about the USPS, maybe you could look into the the millions of dollars they spend on advertizing, or why they still have Saturday deliveries or better yet, why bulk mailers pay a fraction of the first-class rate to mail out shit in the form of paper and text. It sounds very much like a ‘make work’ project to me.

WTF? You don’t want Saturday deliveries? Personally, I am mortally offended that Jesus doesn’t want my mailman to pick up my Netflix DVDs on Sundays, particularly because we tend to watch movies on Saturday nights. No Saturday service indeed!

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Feh. I stand by my post from two years ago (#21 above).