(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate whether the regulatory body can penalize the United States Postal Service (USPS) for violating the nation’s “truth-in-advertising” laws.

In a letter to Mary Engle, associate director of the FTC’s division of advertising practices, CCAGW charged that a USPS advertising campaign significantly misrepresents the reliability of its Priority Mail service.  The advertising campaign, which has been ongoing since mid-February, markets the USPS’ Priority Mail as a reliable two-day delivery service. 

“In reality, the USPS’ Priority Mail product fails to deliver on its promise of reliable two-day delivery in a significant percentage of cases,” CCAGW Vice President Leslie Paige said.  “The USPS itself admits that it was only able to deliver Priority Mail within the promised two days 82.4 percent of the time, and that rate was only achieved in the first quarter of 2003.  During the same quarter of 2002, the on-time delivery scores for this service were a weak 63.5 percent.  The fact is consumers would be better off mailing an important document using First-class mail.  First-class often gets to its destination before Priority Mail and yet, Priority Mail costs consumers more than 10 times as much as a stamp.  Comparable industry standards for two-day delivery are between 90 and 97 percent.  The USPS should have to comply with the same advertising standards as any private company.”

The USPS ads, which are aimed at building brand recognition for Priority Mail, are running on television and in newspapers in major markets.  They feature a digital representation of a stopwatch, implying that customers can count on the USPS to deliver their letters within 48 hours.  A disclaimer, which appears for a few seconds on the television versions or in miniscule type at the bottom of its print ads, informs consumers that “Delivery times may vary depending on destination.” 

Although the USPS claims it is exempt from many federal statutes, in a 1997 lawsuit brought by Federal Express, both the trial court and the 6^th District Appeals Court opined that the USPS was not exempt from truth-in-advertising laws when it was engaging in competitive activities outside of its core mission of delivering mail.  The trial court specifically stated that it did not believe that Congress “intended to create a federal corporation immunized from the very law that protects consumers and competitors from deceptive commercial practices.” 

“CCAGW respectfully requests that the FTC initiate an investigation to determine whether or not it has jurisdiction over the USPS when it comes to deceptive advertising,” Paige concluded.  “American consumers, who spend $1 billion annually for this service, should have some form of protection from misleading campaigns like this one.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.