(2 of 8)
For better or worse, America is married to the mails as a cost-efficient way of disseminating that most prized of 20th century commodities: information. Today more money is invested in direct-mail pitches, promotions and appeals than is spent on advertising in magazines or on radio or network television. The ensuing competition drives direct-mail marketers ever higher (and lower) to distinguish their message from the rest. To target potential customers more accurately, they compile and swap lists that provide increasingly detailed information about individual consumers, a practice that raises citizen concerns about privacy.
The biggest complaint of consumers, though, is that there is so much paper invading their homes. Over the course of a lifetime, the average American professional will devote eight entire months to sifting through mail solicitations. Third-class mail is now a nearly 4 million-ton colossus that accounts for 39% of all U.S. postal volume. This year about 41 lbs. of junk mail have been generated for each adult American. Of the pile that reached mailboxes, an estimated 44% landed in trash cans, unopened and unread. Many of the rejects were "prospecting letters," mailings that fish for new clients and often hook only a 2% response -- plenty, by industry standards, to justify the flow.
The prodigality leaves environmentalists seething about the direct-mail bombardment, which consumes millions of trees each year. Conservationists also fume that the discards amount to 3% of the total clutter in the nation's landfills. And just how do they try to enlist public support? By mail, of course. The environmental watchdog organization Greenpeace USA sends more than 25 million pieces annually. Earlier this year the Environmental Defense Fund put out a direct-mail fund raiser (on recycled paper) that offered, in exchange for membership, a copy of the best-selling 50 Simple Things You Can + Do to Save the Earth. The book's No. 1 suggestion for planetary rescue is "Stop junk mail!"
The rallying cry is being taken up by federal and state legislators who feel that the problems caused by direct mail are multiplying out of control. A key concern is the alleged threat to individual privacy, which many fear is infringed upon by the direct marketers' aggressive collecting of trade information about the finances and spending habits of potential customers. Democratic Congressman Charles Schumer of New York plans to resubmit a bill to Congress next year that aims to prohibit the use of credit information for marketing purposes. At present, many credit agencies tap into sensitive data to compile lists that can then be rented by direct-mail marketers.
The Deceptive Mailings Prevention Act of 1990, which was signed this month by President Bush, bans mail solicitations that masquerade as government notices and prey particularly upon the fears of the elderly. Last January a New York State law went into effect that barred retail stores from keeping records of the addresses and phone numbers of customers who use credit cards. The practice is intended to verify identifications, but it is increasingly used to compile mailing lists, which are then rented.