Case Studies
Subscribe to Case StudiesThe Point and MailChimp Bail Out Heroic Mailman
Joe the Plumber may have been the rage three weeks ago, but there’s a new folk hero in town: Steve the Mailman. When faced with an expanding route and debilitating health problems, mailman Steve Padgett needed to think creatively in order to promptly deliver the mail that mattered to people. So instead of delivering junk mail, he saved everyone some time and hassle by burning it or burying it in his backyard.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of those things that is both awesome and illegal; last week, Steve got stuck with 500 hours of community service and a $3,000 fine.
When we heard, we thought people might like a way to show support for Steve by helping him with that $3,000, so we started a campaign to spread the wealth and recoup Steve’s loss. Donations started trickling in, and then awesome email marketing provider MailChimp (we use them for Groupon) stepped in with a donation to tip the campaign.
Now that Steve the Mailman is back in the black, all that remains to be seen is whether he will leverage his national celebrity as shrewdly as his plumbing counterpart. A Steve the Mailman book deal? A run for congress? A website where you can pay to read musings on his blog?
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MailChimp Helps Bail Out Mailman Steve | MailChimp Blog
[...] And as a way to express our support for Mailman Steve and his junk mail minimizing tactics, MailChimp has helped bail him out by contributing to a fund that will cover Padgett’s [...]
November 26th, 2008 at 10:10 amMichael
I happen to love Mailchimp and I routinely sing their praises to friends and clients. But in this case, I think their stated rational for supporting Mailman Steve is misguided, self-serving, naked opportunism.
If on the one hand, they wish to support Steve for some of the mitigating factors in the case, such as his health issues, that’s all well and good. But if their support is for his admitted diverting of lawfully sent and paid-for 3rd-class mail, that’s another matter entirely. Mailchimp’s actions are tantamount to supporting police officers who refuse to enforce unpopular laws out of conscience.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:55 amRobin
I agree with the above statement. What about the local businesses who sent 3rd class mail trying to drum up business? And what if my mail carrier failed to deliver my natural pet catalogue? Or a big fundraiser mailing for the local habitat for humanity? Or one mailing I got last week for our state’s food bank?
Steve the mail carrier is no hero and it doesn’t please me that he didn’t have to fork over a pittance of the losses that he caused for god knows how many worthy organizations.
This campaign should probably be put to the side rather than advertised as a succcess story. If someone doesn’t want 3rd class mail…. they simply write to the appropriate authorities to be taken off it.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:01 amJoy
In some US cities and many european countries, people are given “yes” and “no” stickers for “circulars and junk mail” and for “door hangers.” You put those stickers up, right at your door. (I know we also have a national “opt out” site for much of the junk mail in the US, but why are we only given an opt-out, with delivery as the default? We’re citizens. Companies are not citizens. We should have an even playing field for an “out or in” choice).
As a nation, we have agreed that companies do not have an unlimited right to send us spam, or to send us junk faxes. But somehow, we can’t get our heads around the idea that merely paying (pennies per item) for “the right” should allow companies to waste incredible amounts of paper, and put the onus on the recipient to either recycle it, or dump it as trash.
I don’t support burial or burning as a better alternative, and I’m damned glad that Steve isn’t my mail carrier. If he were a real hero, he’d have tipped his customers off about ways to get off junk mail lists (see http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ ) instead of taking that choice upon himself. But the requirements to retire with any sort of pension from the postal service are becoming mighty draconian. I have watched small postmen and women in their late 60’s struggling with bags that can’t possibly be below the mandated maximum weight limits. No car, not enough intermediate “drops,” and long routes in sub-freezing weather, 6 days a week.
December 6th, 2008 at 8:29 amRichard
Practically everything we buy is something advertised. Without advertising, business would not thrive. When Steve decided to not deliver the junk mail, he was cheating the businesses who paid his employer (post office) money for advertising. How would you like to be the small business owner who paid $10,000 to deliver fliers for a targeted zip code, only to have them not delivered? A worthy, and related cause, would be to go after the businesses which fax unsolicited advertisements, because these cost us our ink and paper when they print out at our fax machines. This is like the consumers paying for the advertising without choice. Understand the difference? Steve the mail carrier is NOT someone to be admired or respected for his actions. If he couldn't handle the load, he should have gotten help, or changed jobs. Also, unsolicited phone calls are unwelcome because they intrude upon our dinner time or whatever. But junk mail in our mailbox? Don't like it? Then simply trash it. It cost you nothing. Just keep in mind next time you buy a car, or a tube of toothpaste, or just about anything, that it was probably advertising that drew your attention to it in the first place.
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