Cyber Kyle and the United States Postal Service
When I was cleaning up at work I came across this promotional magnet. It was part of a marketing campaign the postal service ran last year to encourage companies to use more direct mail advertising.
I thought it was interesting how the USPS chose to depict "the Internet". Let's take a look at "Cyber Kyle" and figure out what he's like. First off, he's anti-social and very adamant about it (as evidenced by the sign in the background). He's a bit of a slob (cola bottles on the ground, long unkempt hair). He isn't even quite human (blue skin--other magnets in the set used realistic skin tones--and a freakishly long neck). He doesn't seem like a person you would "work best" with.
Are they just using stereotypes of what "computer geek" is or is there more to it than that? I may be reading a little too much into this, but it seems like the USPS has a touch of animosity towards "the Internet." :)
5 Responses to “Cyber Kyle and the United States Postal Service”
1. Garrett
September 20th, 2007
So, when I first looked at this, I didn’t think like it was too big a deal, but with a closer look, it seems like the message and picture combine to be a somewhat derogatory towards people who do a lot of their business on the internet. To me it seems like they are suggesting that those who do not use Direct Mail are antisocial cavemen nerd freaks who take technology to an unhealthy extreme. Just my take.
2. Garrett
September 20th, 2007
My guess is the idea behind the campaign is that the average Joe won’t associate themselves with Kyle, but will associate him with some other unpleasant person they know, heard of, or saw in a movie. Then average Joe will think “ha ha silly nerd” and see using Direct Mail as a way of distancing themselves. Kind of a “straw man” persuasion technique.
3. Richard
September 20th, 2007
My thought is that they just payed some graphic designer to come up with something and that’s what they got. Perhaps that’s the graphic designer’s stereotype of computer users, but then again most graphic designers I know do much if not most of their work on computers. I think the future of direct mail is doomed and they wanted something cartoony to connect with the internet generation. I see the US postal service soon becoming nothing more than UPS and other parcel services. However I do still send some bills via direct mail…
4. Tad
September 21st, 2007
Just FYI, “Direct Mail” is what people in the biz like to call junk mail. It could easily be attributed to a graphic designer’s take, but marketing campaigns like this usually have a lot of eyes looking at things and levels of approval. I dug a little deeper, and the campaign was called “Outsmart the Office”. I think it was depicting the adversaries you were going up against if you wanted to do a mailing campaign.
5. Richard
September 21st, 2007
Oh, that makes sense. I don’t like Direct Mail if it = junk mail.
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