There s the sponsorship of Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong s cycling team. And the promotional campaign with Universal Pictures for the Grinch movie is a non-cash transaction. USPS is not paying Universal for the use of the Grinch logo, and Universal is getting free publicity. A central theme to the movie is the Whoville Post Office, says Azeezaly Jaffer, USPS vice president for public affairs. They are letting us use a lot of their promotional materials.
People relate to the post office.
We felt it was a good thing to do. At the other end of the spectrum are business partnerships that allow competitors to take advantage of the Postal Service s mission of universal service. Emery Worldwide and Airborne Express have entered into such arrangements. The deals are aimed at shippers of high-volume computers and home electronics and other catalog and Internet products. USPS letter carriers then haul them the last mile to customers homes and businesses.