Very British! Memorable Images 62 : The Royal Mail

A lesson about cultural destruction

The Post Office and Government should have learned from the Coco Pops experiment in which Coco Pops were renamed Choco Krispies and then changed back again.

It seem that anything with the name “Royal” in it, or “British” in it must be challenged.

The national may have hav ethe last laugh, but it hasn’t been so funny because we have had to pay for this stupidity.

Hello Consignia – goodbye Royal Mail (9 January 2001)

Hello Royal Mail – goodbye Consignia 13 June 2002

Consignia rebranding as Royal Mail

From FAQ

q. So does this mean that the Consignia rebranding was a failure?

a. The decision to rename The Post Office to Consignia was taken in relation to the switch to plc status, the market place, strategy, and the organisation at that time. But we have been unable to deliver the strategy that the name change was designed to support and the marketplace is now very different. The decision to change the name to Royal Mail Group is just one example of the ways this business is refocusing on delivering a better business for our people and better service for our customers, whilst aiming to get back in to profit.

Postman Pat gets the sack

Postman Pat: Waving goodbye to the Royal Mail

The services of the popular TV character Postman Pat are no longer required by the organisation whose good name he did so much to promote.

The Royal Mail says it has dumped the cheery delivery man because he no longer fits in with the company’s “corporate image.”

The postal workers’ union has described the decision as a disgrace, saying Postman Pat stood for everything good about postmen.

The Royal Mail has used Pat and his faithful black and white cat,

Jess, for public relations work since he first started his round in the fictional village of Greendale during the 1980s.

His adventures and misadventures with the local townsfolk, turned this postman and his trusty van into one of Britain’s much loved children’s programmes.

Popular with children

“He was very popular with children and his friendly manner and community spirit made him a good image for postal workers,” said a spokeswoman for Royal Mail.

But she said the organisation had decided it was now time to cut links with the character.

“Following a recent review, we think the best way we can make use of the thousands of our people eager to volunteer their time and skills is through a schools’ programme to improve literacy.

“Because of this new focus we have taken the difficult decision to end the volunteering of our people to dress as Postman Pat.”

The Pillar Box by Katherine Mansfield 1888 – 1923

The pillar box is fat and red,
The pillar box is high;
It has the flattest sort of head
And not a not or eye,
But just one open nigger mouth
That grins when I go by.

The pillar box is very round
And hungry all the day;
Although it doesn’t make a sound,
Folks know what it wants to say,
“Give me some letter sandwiches
To pass the time away.”

“A postage stamp I like to eat
Or gummy letterette.”
I see the people on the street,
If it is fine or wet,
Give something to the greedy thing;
They never quite forget.

The pillar box is quite a friend
When Father goes away;
My Mother has such lots to send,
Far letters every day,
And so I drop them in its mouth
When I do out to play.