Although this article was intended to introduce the US Harry Potter stamp issue, it also includes several startling revelations of the intention of the US Postal Service to "commercialize" the future of the US Stamp Program under the current administration:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...1_story.htmlSeveral significant comments contained in the above article include:
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Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in an interview that the agency "needs to change its focus toward stamps that are more commercial" as a way to increase revenue to compensate for declining mail volume as Americans switch to the Internet.
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Members of the [citizens stamp] advisory committee have complained to Donahoe that they have been brushed aside by agency staff, led by marketing director Nagisa Manabe, a former Coca-Cola executive hired in 2012 to reinvigorate the postal brand. Manabe moved the stamp program into her department and pushed aside veterans in the program, according to postal sources.
Manabe, through a Postal Service spokesman, declined repeated requests for comment.
At her urging, the committee changed its charter to allow corporate advertising on stamps, as long as it is not featured as the main element, according to people familiar with the changes. The charter now includes "contemporary and timely" in its criteria for new stamp selection, with "educational" a factor but no longer an "essential" one.
Many ideas for new stamps now originate with her staff and are heavy with celebrity subjects, those familiar with the changes say.
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A person familiar with the advisory committee's thinking said the "new world order in the post office" is all about what sells. "It's 'Let's not waste time or money on something that isn't going to be of immediate interest. National parks, scenic America won't make the cut, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from the Postal Service.
Posted 11/19/2013 10:13 am
