Postal Service Announces Social Media Favorite Stamp Vote

2012 Bicycling Forever Stamps Previewed Today

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Postal Service is asking its Facebook friends to vote for their favorite 2012 stamp previewed this week as it continues to announce some of next year's stamps through social media outlets.

Today's sneak peek is the Bicycling Forever stamps. Using social media to reach broader, more diverse audiences is an initiative that began Monday. Select stamps from the 2012 commemorative program will continue to be previewed one at a time.

"Throughout the weekend, we're engaging Facebook friends by asking them to vote for their favorite 2012 stamp previewed on Facebook this week by visiting facebook.com/USPSStamps," said Stephen Kearney, manager, Stamp Services. "Results of the vote will be announced on Facebook Monday, July 25. In addition to the Bicycling stamps previewed today, Facebook friends can select from the Cherry Blossoms Centennial, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Love Ribbons or John H. Johnson stamps as their favorite."

Bicycling Forever stamps

"We are excited to promote one the nation's most popular outdoor activities with the issuance of these four Bicycling stamps," added Kearney. "These days, increasing numbers of Americans ride bikes to work or use them to run neighborhood errands. Many travel organizations offer cycling tours, from leisurely half-day jaunts to weeks-long excursions. No matter how long the ride, choosing to bike rather than to drive cuts down on traffic congestion, fuel consumption and vehicle emissions, which benefits the environment and helps improve air quality."

The Postal Service is helping the environment by delivering mail by bicycle in locations throughout Arizona and Florida.

Art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, designed the stamps using illustrations by John Mattos of San Francisco, CA. Each of the stamps features a different kind of bike and rider:  a young child just learning to ride with training wheels, a commuter pedaling to work, a road racer focused on the finish line, and an airborne bicycle motocross (BMX) rider.

Customers may preview the stamps on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service's online site for the back story on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.  

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

We're everywhere so you can be anywhere:  www.uspseverywhere.com

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service