Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,588,558 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

TAKING A LICKING; POSTAL SERVICE FIELDS CRITICISM FOR BUGS STAMP.


Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Bugs Bunny will join George Washington and Elvis Presley today in the select company of Americans portrayed on postage stamps This is a list of postage stamps that are especially notable in some way.

The best-known stamps:
  • Treskilling Yellow (Sweden)
  • Penny Black (Britain)
  • Blue Penny (Mauritius)
  • Inverted Jenny (U.S.
 as part of a campaign to entice young people to become stamp collectors.

Serious collectors are divided over the self-adhesive, 32-cent stamp, with some worried it represents nothing more than free advertising and violates the U.S. Postal Service's guidelines of not honoring commercial enterprises or products.

``I'm delighted the Postal Service postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval  is attempting to reach out to youth, but this is a commercialization I find repugnant REPUGNANT. That which is contrary to something else; a repugnant condition is one contrary to the contract itself; as, if I grant you a house and lot in fee, upon condition that you shall not aliens, the condition is repugnant and void. Bac. Ab. Conditions, L. ,'' said Michael Laurence, editor of the weekly Linn's Stamp News Linn's Stamp News is the largest weekly newspaper for stamp collectors, boasting a paid circulation of nearly 45,000 (as of 2003). It is published by Amos Press, who also publish the Scott stamp catalogs. , of Sidney, Ohio Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,211 at the 2000 census. It is named after English explorer Sir Phillip Sidney and is the county seat of Shelby CountyGR6. . ``My constituency is overwhelmingly negative about the stamp.''

Israel Bick, executive director of the Van Nuys-based International Stamp Collectors Society, is backing Bugs, however. ``I think most of our members are for it,'' he said. ``The idea of a Bugs stamp may not be lovable for everybody but he's part of American culture, so there's no reason to be against it.''

The stamp, to be sold in sheets of 10 with Bugs' signature line ``What's Up Doc?'' on the liner under each stamp, will receive a first-day ceremony on the Warner Bros BROS Brothers
BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington)
BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) 
. studio lot this morning at 10 a.m. Hundreds of local schoolchildren schoolchildren school nplécoliers mpl;
(at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl

schoolchildren school
 will be given bunny ears and tours as part of the Postal Service's 2-month-old Stampers program to encourage youngsters to take up the hobby.

The stamp will only be sold today at the studio's tour office and at the main Burbank post office on Hollywood Way. It will be sold nationwide Friday.

Postal Service spokesman Barry Ziehl said initial response to the idea has been largely positive. ``Bugs is a unique part of American history and an American icon just like Elvis or Marilyn Monroe,'' he said. ``Those characters are uniquely American and it is the job of the Postal Service to reflect that.''

The stamp will be hard to miss. Not only will 265 million be printed, but Warner and the Postal Service will sell 84 different gift items in many of the 30,000 U.S. post offices, including coffee mugs, T-shirts, hats, ties, greeting cards See e-card.  and a $4.95 comic book comic book

Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums.
.

``The Postal Service is selling out its integrity just because this is a good marketing idea,'' said Gary Griffith, a television producer and columnist for Stamp Collector. ``No commercial enterprise has ever had one of its products or trademarked items displayed as blatantly on a U.S. security.''

Laurence noted that Bugs' owner, Time Warner Inc., is the second-largest customer of the Postal Service. Among the entertainment conglomerate's holdings are Time, Sports Illustrated and People magazines.

``You can make the case that the Postal Service is doing this as a quid pro quo [Latin, What for what or Something for something.] The mutual consideration that passes between two parties to a contractual agreement, thereby rendering the agreement valid and binding.  for Time Warner,'' he said.

The Postal Service hopes to generate $38 million in profits from sales of Bugs stamps that are saved rather than canceled and related products, topping the $36 million it earned from sales of merchandise and unused 29-cent Elvis stamps in 1993. Ziehl said the revenues will help the service stay in the black for the third year in a row.

Sandy Reisenbach, Warner's executive vice president of marketing and planning, said the stamp is appropriate because of Bugs' popularity. ``He's been a star for 50 years and has become the No. 1 cartoon character in the world,'' he said.

Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. would no doubt disagree. But it has decided that licensing its characters for stamps does not fit with its brand marketing philosophy, a spokesman said. Disney characters have appeared on stamps issued by several African and Caribbean nations, but those agreements will not be renewed when current contracts reach their termination point.

Ziehl said the Postal Service made an informal inquiry to Disney about the possibility of a Mickey Mouse stamp several years ago but dropped the idea due to lack of interest by the entertainment giant.

As for Warner, Ziehl said further Looney Tunes characters This is the complete list of Looney Tunes characters organised after the year of their first appearance.
Note: The more famous or noteworthy Looney Tunes characters are listed in bold.
 may appear in coming years and trade publications report that up to 13 such stamps will start appearing next year.

The Postal Service began selling offbeat off·beat  
n. Music
An unaccented beat in a measure.

adj. Slang
Not conforming to an ordinary type or pattern; unconventional: offbeat humor.
 issues in recent years, including Legends of the West in 1994, Marilyn Monroe and Classic American Comic Strips in 1995 and James Dean last year. A series of horror movie characters, including Frankenstein, is due out this fall.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (1--Color) The Postal Service plans to issue a series of horror movie character stamps this fall.

(2--Color) No caption (Bugs Bunny stamp)

(3--Color) James Den is one of the best-sellers
COPYRIGHT 1997 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:BUSINESS
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:May 22, 1997
Words:760
Previous Article:PACIFIC TELESIS MAY PUT UNIT IN VALLEY.(BUSINESS)
Next Article:ANGELS BATS COME TO LIFE; TEAM JUMPS ALL OVER 42-YEAR-OLD MARTINEZ : ANGELS 18, SEATLE 3.(SPORTS)
Topics:



Related Articles
E-Postage Efficiencies.(Brief Article)
DAFFY DUCK GAINS STAMP IMMORTALITY.(Business)
BUYERS SEE A PUDDY TAT ON STAMPS.(News)
PHILATELISTS STUCK ON BUGS BUNNY.(News)
ENCORE FOR BUGS; STAMP'S POPULARITY PROMPTS ORDER FOR 100 MILLION MORE.(BUSINESS)
ACROSS THE BOARD : THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY.(BUSINESS)
I TAWT I TAW A TWEETY STAMP.(BUSINESS)
BIZWATCH : MARKETS.(BUSINESS)
KIDS' STAMP OF APPROVAL : SIMI TEACHER SHARES LOVE OF PHILATELY WITH STUDENTS.(NEWS)
Lewis and Clark stamps mark bicentennial.(General News)(Commemorative stamps featuring the explorers will go on sale starting Saturday)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles