Don’t you get tired of seeing large businesses advertising on every medium? From billboards and radio to YouTube and television, large businesses (the businesses that make millions of dollars a year, even though by some accounts these businesses are still considered “small”) have the cash flow and subsequent budget required to fund these advertisements, which gives them a huge marketing advantage over small businesses. Since government officials are always so fond of saying small businesses are the drivers of job creation and growth in this country, it would follow that any advantage these businesses can muster would be helpful for America. As such, I believe legislation which would make it illegal for large businesses to send unsolicited paper advertisements to private residents would be beneficial for a multitude of reasons. Large business advertisements already flood the airwaves and reach millions of people, so here’s why I think paper advertisements from said businesses should never be allowed to reach my mailbox or driveway.
The most obvious reason in favor of this approach would be the newfound marketing niche over which small businesses would enjoy a monopoly. Oftentimes, the budget of small/microbusinesses is so minuscule that business cards and flyers are the only way they can reach the consciousness of consumers. This being said, a second advantage of this approach becomes obvious. That is, if small business advertisements were the only game in town, or in this case, a citizen’s mailbox, they would garner more attention then they would when mixed in with dozens of other flyers and advertisements from larger businesses, the dilution effect of which would make the small business ad just another piece of paper in a sea of advertisements. Keeping this in mind, a third advantage of this approach would be correlated to the sheer volume of paper produced. Fewer paper advertisements would mean fewer trees destroyed and less waste, plain and simple! In addition, fewer paper advertisements would mean people like you and I would need to spend less time disposing of them. For example, many unsolicited paper advertisements I receive from large companies have my name and address emblazoned on the envelope and on documents inside, which for me means I have to shred them. All of this takes time, and since I never wanted these advertisements in the first place, I almost feel like I should be getting paid to receive them! After all, practically anywhere that you want to advertise in America requires you to pay for the use of that advertising space, so why should my mailbox be any different? However, as someone who cares about jobs for Americans, I would have no qualms about allowing small businesses to send me paper advertisements.
The almighty dollar drives this country, and as such it is nigh impossible to avoid advertisements in America. However, I don’t want to receive advertisements at my home unless I say so, since I own my home, not the mega corporation. Look, I am not against capitalism, as capitalism fuels job creation and American competitiveness in the global economy. However, when my wife and I take a walk and see planes flying above us carrying streaming banners for huge insurance companies, it is not hard for us to see small businesses need to be given niches that the large businesses cannot access. If my wife and I can see this point of view, then in my opinion, astute legislators who care about America and its small businesses should not only see this point of view, but they should act on it. Disallowing paper advertisements from any for-profit business except a small business would be one such action.