"Dilbert," "Cathy" Help Postal Service Talk With Customers

130 million postcards will be mailed monthly

February 27, 2006, Washington, D.C. - Dilbert has some time-saving information for Wally, who finds it too taxing to believe, and Cathy encounters a little chaos trying to find stamps.

Not to worry, though. The U.S. Postal Service is on the way to save the day. A little dramatic, perhaps. But these are comic strips, after all.

Cathy Guisewite, creator of “Cathy,” and Scott Adams, creator of “Dilbert” will draw original, three-panel comic strips for a series of postcards that are being sent to 120 million residential addresses and 10 million business addresses.

Each month, “Keeping You Posted” will provide customers with information about a variety of products and services, from flat-rate packaging and Click-N-Ship to NetPost CardStore and money orders.

“We’ve begun a dialogue with our customers about our services, and chose two characters everyone can relate to in helping to tell our story,” said Anita Bizzotto, USPS Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. “We wanted to connect with people in a way that was interesting and humorous.”

“Cathy” will be featured on seven postcards sent to residential customers. She will help spread the word on products and services that may be unfamiliar to customers, highlighting the suite of services available online through usps.com. The first postcard highlights all of the places stamps can be purchased - in addition to the local Post Office.

The recipient of the prestigious Reuben Award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,” Guisewite began drawing “Cathy” in 1976, focusing on the trials, tribulations and humor in the life of American career women. The strip appears in 1,400 newspapers worldwide.

“I love the Post Office and its long, rich history of connecting people, and am so honored that my characters were chosen to help spread news about the Post Office in 2006. It’s a dream come true for my Mom and Dad. Not only am I associated with one of the great institutions of our country, but they’re guaranteed to get 7 pieces of mail from me in the near future.”

The ubiquitous and universal world of cubicles and questioning bosses has made “Dilbert” one of the most recognizable and believable comic strips printed today. Launched in 50 newspapers in 1989, “Dilbert” is seen by more than 150 million people every day in more than 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries. Adams, “Dilbert”’s creator, literally draws on years of experience in the business world, including stints as a budget manager, strategist and engineer.

“I’m trying to suck up to the Postal Service so they’ll put me on a stamp,” Adams joked. “My long-term plan is to claim credit for every package they deliver.”

Dilbert will help business customers navigate a world of shipping and mailing options and offer services that can help make a business more efficient, including Carrier Pickup and Global Express Mail.

The first of eight postcards directed toward business customers promotes “My Desktop Post Office,” new, downloadable software that takes users directly to the postal transactions they use most often on usps.com.

The first sets of postcards are being mailed this week. Residential customers will receive a postcard through August. Postcards will be mailed to business customers through the end of September.


Please note: PDFs of the first cartoon strips are available by calling 202.268.3118.


Since 1775, the Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits more than 144 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 $70 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 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves seven million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide.

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