NEW FLAT-RATE BOX AD CAMPAIGN
ANIMATED AD FEATURES DISNEY*PIXAR’S ‘TOY STORY 3’ CHARACTERS
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| “Toy Story 3” Priority Mail Flat Rate Box ad. |
Secure the area, Sheriff Woody. The Postal Service is playing in the “Toy Story” world.
Some of the characters in the Disney*Pixar movie franchise “Toy Story” and Al — the letter carrier seen nationally and online touting the virtues of Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes — are appearing together in an animated advertisement, in a direct mail campaign, on usps.com and in Post Offices.
Al appears as himself. But this time, he shares top billing with a second letter carrier named Hamm, a familiar animated piggy bank voiced by John Ratzenberger, who taps into his role as postal worker Cliff Clavin of “Cheers” fame.
The new commercial is the newest in a series that began almost a year ago. This latest chapter in the Priority Mail Flat Rate Box advertising campaign includes several additional features that also incorporate the “Toy Story 3” association:
- Beginning Monday, business and residential customers of the DISH satellite TV service can use their converters to order a free Priority Mail Flat Rate Box kit during the commercial. Customers also can order the kit online at the DISH website.
- USPS has launched a direct mail campaign to 4 million businesses promoting the Priority Mail Flat Rate Box service and featuring the “Toy Story 3” characters. The campaign includes an e-mail blast to 1.4 million large and small concerns.
- “Toy Story 3” characters also are appearing on usps.com with banners and other content.
- The “Toy Story 3” characters will be featured in posters and displays in 12,000 Post Office lobbies.
Susan Plonkey, acting president, Mailing and Shipping Services, says the Postal Service’s association with Disney*Pixar builds on the notion of USPS as an American institution. “We’re proud to be associated with Disney*Pixar in promoting our flat-rate box services,” she said. “Our benefits are universally recognized, and the relationship established with the animated characters that are so popular with the American public reinforces the reliability and popularity of the USPS brand.”
“Toy Story 3” opens in movie theaters June 18.
