1. World problems
  2. Proliferation of direct mail advertising

Proliferation of direct mail advertising

  • Junk mail
  • Junk fax mail

Incidence

A total of 7,781 different consumer direct mail campaigns went through the UK post in 1992. "Desk-top marketing" techniques come with a CD-ROM package which allows its customers to access data, and then target a message to up to 400,000 companies directly from a PC. In one medical institute in Sweden, doctors on the staff received in one day 5,775 advertising items in the mail.

Claim

When you get ads in your phone or utility bill, include them with the payment. Let them throw it away. When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to second mortgages and junk like that, most of them come with postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes! If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You can send it back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting all their junk back in the mail. Let's let them know what it's like to get junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it – twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy since they say e-mail is cutting into their business, and that's why they need to increase postage again.

Broader

Narrower

Aggravates

Outdated databases
Unpresentable

Aggravated by

Related

Strategy

Direct marketing
Yet to rate

Value

Proliferation
Yet to rate

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal #7: Affordable and Clean EnergySustainable Development Goal #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Metadata

Database
World problems
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems
Biological classification
N/A
Subject
  • Communication » Advertising
  • Societal problems » Proliferation
  • Societal problems » Waste
  • Transportation, telecommunications » Post
  • Transportation, telecommunications » Telephone, telex, telefax
  • Content quality
    Unpresentable
     Unpresentable
    Language
    English
    1A4N
    E1810
    DOCID
    11518100
    D7NID
    142126
    Last update
    Oct 4, 2020