Robots Ride the Mail

Robots Ride the Mail

WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Characters from the upcoming animated film, Robots: The Movie, which opens March 11, are now appearing on postmarks and in Post Offices around the country. In February, mail processing plants nationwide added a special message to cards and letters: "Greetings from Rodney and Fender," along with the likeness of two of the cartoon robot characters, Rodney Copperbottom (voiced in the film by Ewan McGregor) and Fender (voiced by Robin Williams). The postmarks and Post Office lobby displays featuring robots will continue through April. By then, Rodney and Fender's journey through the mail system will have generated 3 billion images of the mechanical pals on cards and letters.

Visitors to Post Office lobbies can see ODIS the talking robot mailbox showing Rodney and Fender (and postal customers) how to use usps.com's online Hold Mail and NetPost CardStore features. Customers can bring the Post Office to their computer before going on vacation or an unexpected business trip and rest easy, knowing their mail is safely held for them at their local Post Office. This online service notifies the local delivery Post Office to hold the customer's mail from 3 to 30 days. Same day service is available for requests submitted by 2 a.m. CST Monday through Saturday.

At NetPost CardStore, usps.com customers can design and mail greeting cards. Customers can choose from more than 2,500 images and photos, upload personal photos or their own artwork. NetPost users can even enclose a gift card from a variety of popular retailers including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Old Navy, Olive Garden, The Sharper Image, and Vons, with their personalized card. Cards can be mailed directly, or returned to the sender for a handwritten personal message, along with fully-addressed, stamped envelopes.

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 142 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of $69 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume -- some 206 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year -- and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.

Source: U.S. Postal Service

CONTACT: U.S. Postal Service Public Relations, +1-202-268-2155

Web site: http://www.usps.com/

------- Profile: Ent