I guess there are printing companies that have gone out of business around the country, though with one exception I'm hard-pressed to think of any, but there must be some printing companies out there still doing good business, because day after day my letter-box is full of advertising material, all of it in colour, and some of it quite substantial.
The printers probably don't in the least bit care that most of the junk mail that arrives in our house goes straight in the recycling bin. My wife glances through some of it, when she can be bothered, but for the most part it comes in one door of the house and goes out the other. I guess advertisers wouldn't feel so happy about this, but if they continue to use such an antiquated and costly system of advertising then I suppose that's their lookout.
But the printing companies must be rubbing their hands with glee. Not for them any scruples about the fact that all this paper and ink is mostly tossed in the rubbish, or that it's hardly useful for anything else (I've occasionally used it as internal wrapping paper in a parcel). For them it's all income, regular and well-paid.
Yes, we could put up a sign saying, No Junk Mail, but what would be the point? It wouldn't stop the endless flow of stuff being delivered around the neighbourhood. I suppose there's a certain economic on-flow from it all: the people who deliver the junk mail, for a pittance; the paper and ink suppliers, the marketing teams who put the things together, and of course the printers, as I've already mentioned. Each of these would fall over without junk mail. So you might say the true value of junk mail isn't advertising but keeping people in jobs.
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