Forever 21 and the promise of postal branding

USPS collabs ain't what they used to be.

In case you haven’t heard, clothing retailer Forever 21 announced its bankruptcy and all its stores will likely close. As postal merch fans will fondly recall, the brand once teamed up with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to sell iconic yellow “Priority” sweatshirts, complete with a scan code on the back. The above picture shows me proudly repping the gear. I still wear it all the time, but the print is slowly and surely fading.

This is far from the only USPS branding collaboration with private companies. In 2021, the shoe company Vans released postal-inspired kicks, which quickly sold out. The USPS continued its collaboration spree in 2022 with another shoe-related partnership, this time with Japanese brand A Bathing Ape. Not all of these agency ventures started out smoothly. Nike attracted the ire of postal officials by designing its shoes with art purportedly resembling Priority Mail shipping boxes and ultimately settled with the agency for an undisclosed sum. The USPS lawyered up and publicly shamed Nike with the understandable goal of keeping its intellectual property (IP) profitable.

Unfortunately, the agency has been less diligent in safeguarding its IP outside the apparel space. When indie pop band “The Postal Service” rose to Such Great Heights in the early 2000s, the USPS sent a cease-and-desist letter (alleging trademark infringement) to the band’s label. After negotiation, America’s mail carrier agreed to leave the band alone if the musicians agreed to cross-promote the postal brand. The agency raised the prospect of “The Postal Service” licensing its music for future USPS commercials, an idea that the band readily bought into. The band also agreed to perform at the Postmaster General’s 2004 National Executive Conference and allowed the agency to sell band merch on their website. The USPS used the iconic song “Such Great Heights” in a 2007 agency commercial, but, besides that one-off, the agency hasn’t exactly gotten rich off the partnership. Had the agency insisted on collecting trademark royalties, it could have profited from the band’s million-plus album sales and tours with Death Cab for Cutie.

The USPS should continue its branding partnerships but insist on getting its money’s worth in revenue. The agency has valuable and widely-recognizable IP. There’s no sense in letting that go to waste.