Whoops! UPS Ads Pimp Postal Service.

January 7, 2007 in Uncategorized with 10 Comments

During today’s CBS broadcast of the Patriot playoff game, I couldn’t help but notice that one of the million ads happened to feature a track from one of my favorite bands, The Postal Service. Nothing that unusual on the surface, as nearly every track off of “Give Up” seems to have found it’s way into at least one commercial for a major brand over the past several years, and I hardly give it a notice anymore.

What was odd about this spot in particular though, was that it was an ad for UPS, a direct competitor of The Postal Service. Now I know what you are thinking…”that name, The Postal Service, it’s just a coincidence!”. Actually, it’s not. The Postal Service is in fact named after the United States Postal Service, specifically to commemorate the way in which Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard sent tracks back and forth to one another while creating the indie-pop album from opposite coasts. Oddly enough, the real USPS wasn’t overly thrilled with the band’s choice of name at the time of the albums peak popularity, and threatened legal action before the two sides came to a unique agreement to cross-promote one another. You can actually buy Postal Service CD’s on The Postal Service website now…not confusing at all, I know.

ANYWAYS, point being that given The Postal Service’s legitimate ties to (and partnership with) the USPS, it struck me as a terribly odd choice of backing track for a UPS commercial. Seems like the folks at Moxie Pictures (production company) and The Martin Agency (the ad agency) didn’t really catch this up front, as they probably would have chosen a different track. Most (as in 99%) of the casual viewers of the ad will never notice this oddity, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

(thanks to AdRants for linking to the ad in question. See it (and hear it) here.)

  • http://www.noahbrier.com Noah Brier

    Good catch, I heard the track but didn’t make the connection. That’s pretty funny. You don’t think they did it on purpose by some chance do you? Not sure what the logic would be, but maybe they were taking some kind of shot at the USPS . . .

  • Will

    Of course they noticed it up front. Anyone who thinks that a major ad agency and a huge corporation like UPS wouldn’t explore the legal implications of this music choice (not to mention that The Postal Service has to give their approval of a commercial before the song is used) is just a little naive. Also, you can’t really say that UPS and the USPS are competitors. The USPS is a government organization and UPS is a privately owned company. The two provide very different services.They both happen to have trucks, however, so I see where that can get confusing.

  • KM

    UPS and USPS provide very different services? Really? Next time you’re ordering something on line, check out your shipping choices, USPS, UPS, FEDEX, maybe DHL…those are very much the SAME services. USPS does not compete in First Class mail (by law) with the others, but it surely does in packages (did you notice USPS ads before Christmas?). The USPS is a “quasi-governmental” agency. That changed in the early 70s, from it being a Government Agency. USPS is responsible for it’s own profit and loss annually, unlike say HHS or the DoD.

    But, more relevant to this thread. I did find it interesting when I noticed the Postal Service song being used.

  • Melanie

    Are you kidding me? Of course, the USPS and UPS are competitors! They both deliver packages, dont they? In other words when you need to send a package, you have a choice between the two companies…thus putting them in competition with one another. Nevertheless, I agree with you that both UPS and their ad agency knew the connection between their chosen music and their competitor (hello, the name of the band itself makes the connection blaringly obvious!). The question is why did they go ahead with it and how…I mean, if Postal Service has a unique agreement with the USPS, how were they were they able to agree to alicensing agreement with UPS?

  • theneed

    “Also, you can’t really say that UPS and the USPS are competitors. The two provide very different services.”

    This is the dumbest thing I’ve read online today; Now that is really saying something.

  • Blake

    The Postal Service is sooooo 3 years ago.

  • Stephanie B.

    I saw the commercial and immediately made the connection only because I love The Postal Service and all of Ben Gibbard’s music. I thought it was funny but didn’t realize the big issue about it until mentioning it to my boyfriend who also likes the band and knew that it was a legal issue awhile back. I think it’s very genuine and great how the band made their music and it really gives the USPS a good name if you ask me. And now UPS as well for having their song on their commercial.

  • John

    The relationship between the USPS and UPS, at least from UPS’s end, is probably less-than-cordial. Not only do some of their services overlap/compete, but the USPS’s contract with FedEx for carrying mail (which once was outsourced to US passenger airlines), probably is a sore spot with UPS.

  • http://www.duckpunk.com/1712-the-postal-service-and-ups-weird.html DuckPunk.com » Blog Archive » The Postal Service and UPS? Weird.

    [...] Postal Service and UPS? Weird. The Postal Service’s music is playing in an advertisement for UPS. I mentioned this in the game thread today, and apparently others noticed [...]

  • http://www.gonzalesmedia.com Ryan Gonzales

    Okay, first of all…

    This is such a retarded argument that I randomly came up on lol…

    Agree with the author – totally odd…

    Now… USPS does not only have ties with FedEx… They work with UPS as well… UPS uses the USPS to deliver packages and vice versa… They all have to work together… If anyone’s wondering… I work in production traffic (getting important stuff to and from people) in the entertainment industry, and I’m quite familiar with the shipping/receiving process…