Ayup! Here at Leaflet Lion, we work on plenty of campaigns for political parties. Do their leaflets count as junk mail? According to us, yes, but officially, no.
We make it clear from the off; properties with a no junk mail (or similar) sign won’t be covered under any circumstances. It’s common courtesy. To ignore this and post newsletters through is only ever going to end badly. Both for the political party and the poor distributor, who’s almost certainly going to receive a barrage of abuse.
John explained he currently has a ‘no junk mail’ sign on his door, and he confronted his postman when he continued to get leaflets.
His postman told him he is obliged to put the leaflets through as many doors as possible, including those with signs.
Why political leaflets absolutely should count as junk mail
All unaddressed mail is technically junk mail. It’s as simple as that. A resident who displays a sign won’t expect that to exclude certain material. If they’ve gone to the effort of buying a sticker, they really don’t want your leaflets. Commercial, non-commercial, it doesn’t matter. Why disrespect their wishes?
I was quite surprised to find out that political parties, distribution companies and even the Royal Mail don’t count political material as junk mail. This is not OK, in any way, shape or form.
I’m starting to see a lot more newsletters, flyers etc from political parties being dropped in my post box. These weren’t addressed to me, so they must have been distributed by local party members. I have a “No Junk Mail” sticker on my post box, so whoever is distributing these either can’t read or is just ignoring the sticker.
Just say no…
More often than not, political clients accept our terms and conditions as they are. I mean, let’s be honest, they probably don’t read them. It’s pointed out, however, that it includes all the property types we don’t deliver to.
Occasionally, we’re asked if we can ignore any no junk mail signs. Absolutely not is always the answer. The client says OK, no worries, the job goes ahead as normal.
The leaflet distribution industry already has a bad enough reputation. Let’s not make it even worse. Those of us who take it seriously should feel comfortable and confident in just saying no.
To have a meaningful discussion about “junk mail” we need to know what we are talking about. That is surprisingly difficult in the UK. The junk mail industry’s lobby group, the Data & Marketing Association (formerly known as the Direct Marketing Association), doesn’t provide any definitions in its Code of Practice. They seem to think that any advertisement pushed through the door is “direct marketing”. Such a broad definition is unhelpful.
The solution to unwanted political junk mail
Here’s the frustrating part. While there appear to be a few solutions, none of them are overly effective. The Stop Junk Mail website is a worthy starting point. Here you’ll find out about a couple of (questionable) opt-out schemes.
Additionally, a no junk mail sign certainly won’t do any harm. As mentioned, the team here at Leaflet Lion will gladly miss you off. Hey, it makes our working day quicker. That said, as outlined above, it seems the signs are often being ignored.
The real solution here is for all political parties, distribution companies and the Royal Mail to start showing some respect and empathy. Obey the signs. Stop thinking you’re above people’s wishes. The commercial/non-commercial aspect doesn’t even come into play. A no junk mail sign means no unaddressed mail. End of.
The UK is blessed with two industry-run opt-out schemes for unaddressed junk mail: Royal Mail’s Door-to-Door Opt-Out is supposed to stop unaddressed mail delivered by your postie and the Your Choice Dummy Scheme pretends to stop leaflets distributed by members of the DMA. Both schemes aren’t particularly effective.
Should political newsletters be classified as junk mail? MoneySavingExpert poll
While researching for this article, I found a poll over on MoneySavingExpert. It was underneath a post that I now realise is an all too familiar story; someone complaining that they’re still receiving political material when they have a no junk mail sign.
The poll asked a simple question: Should political newsletters be classified as junk mail?
- 69% said yes
Honestly, I’m surprised the percentage isn’t higher, but it’s a solid indication of how the general public feels.
Obey the sign
Generally speaking, there are between 10 and 50 no junk mail signs per thousand properties. Some areas are more densely populated with them than others. Either way, is a coverage of 950 out of 1000 properties really that bad?
Try reframing how you think about recipients of political newsletters. You won’t be doing yourself any favours by posting them to residents with a no junk mail sign. It nearly always results in complaints. Why put yourself in that position?
Come on, people! We’ve got well and truly stuck in the but that’s how we’ve always done it mentality. It wasn’t OK then, and it’s not OK now. Obey the sign!
