I ordered something off the Victoria’s Secret website a couple of months back. That was it. I now live in fear. Every time I go down to my mailbox, put in the key and turn, I have one of their catalogs in there. I mean one if I am lucky – sometimes I get two or three! I can’t escape the mass targeting; I am now under their radar, and it seems for good. This is a recurring thing with many retailers; the list is so long that I wouldn’t know where to start.

As I complained about my suffering mailbox, several of my friends, male and female, had the same critiques. I systematically opened my mailbox and take out a bunch of catalogs, leaflets, and flyers and dump them directly in the recycling bin where all other tenants in the building had done the same. I kept wondering why do these companies even bother? At least online there is a junk folder to contain all the unwanted email bursts, but who is stopping the mail spam?

Suddenly, I became obsessed with the Victoria’s Secret catalog specifically since they were the ones that were ridiculously popping up in my mailbox all the time. I decided to start collecting them to see how many I actually receive. Yes folks, its sick, but I had to do it. I realized that these catalogs came on average four to five times a week and that I even had duplicates arriving sometimes. Also, not all of them were addressed to me, some were sent to tenants that had moved out years ago. (Yes years, I checked with my doorman!!) The thing is they were addressed to me or “current resident” – no one cared if I got them as long as they were showing up in a mailbox somewhere.

I would understand if we were in the mid-80s and companies were just experimenting with direct marketing and over-production, but it is utterly unacceptable today. Or if men did not have access to all the erotica and porn. But, with all the online move and lifestyle especially in NYC, the amount of paper trash used is not only ridiculous but also inexplicable. If Victoria’s Secret had really been interested in targeting me as a consumer, then they would have taken the effort to find out that I do almost everything online – banking, shopping, watching movies etc. I use paperless bills and feel strongly against waste, especially useless paper. But they don’t care that I have never opened one of their catalogs, never leafed through it, even. It is not even worthy of toilet reading. I also thought about the poor designers stuck reproducing variations of the catalog over and over again. It was all pretty boring, a set template with variations of girls laid out in clothes and skimpy underwear. Now isn’t that an effective way to push me to buy? Great consumer analysis, NOT!!

So why are they still doing it? It is not like they are using a targeted specific communication and distribution strategy. If you are entered in their database in any way, shape or form then you are getting those catalogs mailed to you. Congratulations! In this time and age giving out our mailing address is going to become a heavier burden, literally.

According to various anti-junk mail groups like DMAChoice, more than 62 billion pieces of useless mail are produced annually, destroying more than 100 million trees. That is a huge number and a bigger burden in our increasingly environmentally conscious times. While people are becoming more aware and trends pointing towards more paperless options and green solutions, companies like Victoria’s Secret are completely off.

A Forrester study established that only 10% of consumers considered the direct mail they get is relevant. In general, 62% of consumers acknowledged they received too much junk mail. The Direct Marketing Association disclosed that marketers spent $21.3 billion on catalogs and another $35.2 billion on direct mail in 2008 (including cost of postage and production). I, for one, can think of at least ten better ways to spend this budget. So it really is no shock that consumers are looking for ways to cut back all this insignificant communication waste.

As they proudly boast on their website, Victoria’s Secret reaches more than 390 million customers each year through their catalog. Can you imagine the budget spent? Can you think of how many wasted trees cut down? You do the math.

Shocking? Definitely. I tried to stop it. I called and after getting through to one call center after the other, I protested and objected and asked to be taken off the list. Result? None. I still punctually receive the catalogs, and I am collecting them in parallel. Maybe one day I want to mail them back, and just stuff them in their mailbox! I am open to suggestions.

Please sign the petition to Stop Junk Mail HERE

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Design, NYC, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.