[BogeyBoy]

At least you are recycling the advertisements, better than going to a landfill.

When those ads are mailed most companies expect a 1-3% response. A 5% response is great, usually only reached when sent to a very specific market. For example, if they did a mailing to TV for newly weds to buy 50 year term life insurance they would get a very poor response. But if Arnold Palmer did one saying he would meet with you personally and help you improve your golf game I am sure the response would be great.

Direct mail helps keep a lot of people employed. The postal service is in enough trouble, direct mail volume (along with other classes of mail) has dropped due to the economy. it's like the auto industry, when they slow down or stop making cars it's not just the auto workers who loose jobs. Same with direct mail, if it stops printers, distributors, ink manufacturers, marketing reps, etc. all loose jobs. The postal employee is kind of the last one in the row of dominos to go down.