Let me get my cards out on the table–I’ve been a George Lucas fan since I first saw THX-1138 in college. I have seen the original Star Wars trilogy at least fifteen times, a couple of time in the theaters during the first runs, then again when he re-mastered them, through various TV marathons and of course on wide-screen VHS and more recently with the DVD “collectors” edition. I even forgive him for creating Jar Jar Binks and casting Hayden Christensen in the second trilogy. R2-D2 is like the little brother I always wanted–fearless, smart, adventurous and a great companion. So it should come as as no surprise that I am totally and completely thrilled that the US Postal Service decided to shrink wrap 400 mailboxes in 200 cities to look like R2-D2.
A number of media outlets have covered this story in the last couple of weeks. Gizmodo has some great pictures. Cinematical provides all the background info including the fact that this promotional effort celebrates the 30th anniversary of Star Wars and a commemorative stamp being launched by the US Postal Service. Political Fallout takes the satirist point-of-view describing this effort of how the US Post Office is joining the rebel alliance against Bush. And Adfreak offers the comical headline “near sighted scrap pile gets post office job” with the commentary:
If you are feeling a disturbance in the Force, it may be because the U.S. Postal Service is siphoning what goodwill remains toward the Star Wars franchise with these R2-D2 mailboxes.
So yes, in my humble opinion, this too is Marketing for Good. Postal boxes should be an inspiration to anyone who still writes letter and who still dreams of getting an actual letter from somebody instead of an electronic message. With R2-D2 on the boxes, they are suddenly transformed from an anachronistic icon to a literary hero who maybe, just maybe will inspire some young kid to want to be the next George Lucas, and write the myths for their generation. May the force be with them.