Dear Editor,
Advertisements clutter almost every page of the Gilroy Dispatch, but I wouldn’t think of calling it a “junk newspaper.” So, I’m always disheartened when a newspaper chooses to refer to advertising mail as “junk,” as in your July 8 story “You’ve got mail – junk mail, that is.”
That story can only be described as an all-out assault on the advertising mail profession, and it didn’t just quote others but in the words of your writer, Carolyn Straub, “There you have it: Junk mail. Phooey.”
Well, to some it is junk mail. But to others, it’s a solicitation from a charity in need. It’s also an offer on a favorable mortgage interest rate for a young couple buying their first home or a bargain on an automobile to someone who needs one.
To a lot of other people, this so called “junk” is a job. The livelihood of more than a million Californians depends on the advertising mail industry. This number is not just the creative employees of an advertising agency but it also includes the printers, typesetters, truck drivers, warehouse workers, paper recyclers, office workers and yes, mail carriers.
In her story, Ms. Straub mentions ADVO, a direct marketing company that sends out, among other items, postcards featuring the photographs of missing children. In a recent Associated Press story, it was reported that one in six of the missing children pictured on ADVO’s “Have You Seen Me” cards have been found safely.
The story quoted Enrico Wallenda, whose daughter was abducted and wound up in a homeless shelter in San Diego. Ms. Wallenda said, “Because of the card, we found her.” As I said, to some it’s not “junk.”
Azeezaly S. Jaffer, Vice President, USPS Public Affairs and Communications
