I know where Elvis was hiding......

...and it wasn't at the Kalamazoo Burger King... a UFO... or anything else the Weekly World News came up with in the 1980's.

He was hangin' out at a Canadian post office.

Can you think of any other reason why a Canadian Crown Corporation (aka serious government agency) would use the American icons' hit song to promote their efforts to get Canadians to put the right postage on their love letters?

Ok, let's see - the 1960's were the "oldies" of the 1980's, that helps (I guess they weren't targeting teens for this jingle even then they didn't use snail mail!) Elvis still had momentum in the early and late 1960's and his death in the late 70's was still fresh in people's minds.

"Return to Sender" is from the 1962 movie "Girls Girls Girls" and hits of the 60's were used a lot in 80's advertising. It's catchy, it talks about exactly what Canada Post want to focus on... return to sender for incorrect postage. Sure, makes perfect sense.

Still, something just doesn't seem right. Case in point, my home province of Nova Scotia's tourism department got dragged through the mud by the public a few years ago for using the Jesus Jones song "Right Here, Right Now" in their campaigns for one year - people were saying we should have used a home grown artist and song to promote the province. Maybe that's why this jingle doesn't sit well with me.

Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this, and I should take it for what's worth, a fun, slightly foolish and catchy take on getting those Canucks to slap on the right postage so those posties won't have to do more work then they have to. It's been 25 years this September, I wonder if their efforts ever paid off?

Enjoy!

From 1985, Canada Post Post Office "Return To Sender" # CAN-R60-2229
Produced by McKim Advertising Limited
Reel From Panfor Dubbing Ltd Toronto




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