4 ms·
Too bad some product manager had to ruin it by adding ads to those emails. Another revenue opportunity and a way to promote USPS things.
by wl 4y ago
Too bad some product manager had to ruin it by adding ads to those emails. Another revenue opportunity and a way to promote USPS things.
- bmitc 4y ago
- ovao 4y agoThe USPS is actually entirely to blame.
- stoponerr 4y agoyeah, i am sure our current ruling class would be way nicer to them if they broke up their union.
- hackernewds 4y agoThe USPS has no choice given the purposeful malignant accounting of their pension fund. Instilled to privatize the USPS. Watch as mail in voting becomes a thing, that rancor is even more amplified
- throwaway1775 4y agoThe USPS has had these advertising agreements to monetize your data stemming back from the 1990s when they formed an alliance with Pitney Bowes, which was sold to Imagitas, then acquired by MYMOVE, subsidiary of Red Ventures, the scummy data collection marketing giant. https://www.mymove.com/about-us/ https://www.mymove.com/about-us/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/12/postal-services-welcome-kit-raises-privacy-concern/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/12/postal-serv...
- Natsu 4y agoThose rules also ensure that the pension fund can't be raided, as has happened in the past, e.g. - https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/01/13/75954/index.htm https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992...
- bichiliad 4y agoI think I'd argue that the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 is to blame[0]. In short, postal workers prior to this law were not allowed to engage in collective bargaining. They went on strike to protest this, and this bill, in response, permitted mail employees to organize. In exchange, however, the US Post Office Department, which was formerly directed a cabinet position, was abolished and replaced with a corporation-like independent agency (the USPS as we now know it). The USPS is expected to produce almost all of its own funds and has had most of its pre-1970 subsidies cut back or eliminated. At the same time, the prices it charges are still set by the federal government (specifically by the Postal Regulatory Commission, appointed by the President), meaning it can't truly set rates that allow it to be profitable[1]. The effect of all this essentially means it's forced to try and generate revenue elsewhere, like through these ads. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Reorganization_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Reorganization_Act [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#Rate_increases https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#R...
- blorenz 4y agoI don't think promoting revenue this way is necessarily bad. I'd much prefer this then the cost of postage going up which mandates everyone to contribute to the USPS operating expenses rather than those who choose to purchase products through their ads under their own volition.
- RHSeeger 4y ago> mandates everyone to contribute to the USPS operating expenses Not everyone; just those that use their services. Which seems like exactly the people that should be paying more if the services cost more.