I am still not calling this "Artoo goes postal" (a follow-up)

Ray left a comment in response to my R2-D2 mailbox photo post, speculating that the promotion would result in the U.S. Postal Service raising the cost of postage to cover what they undoubtedly spent in licensing fees to Lucasfilm. He referenced an article about how their sponsorship of the U.S. Tour de France team years ago proved to be more of a bust than a boom as evidence of how this likely would result in an increase.

I admit I didn't put that much thought into it. I saw a mailbox near the office, walked over on a break and snapped a few pics, and eventually got around to putting some up on the site here. I enjoyed the Star Wars films (the ones from 1977 - 1983 mostly), and found the decorated mailboxes amusing. That was as far as I'd thought it through.

I suppose my posting the shots with links to the promotional site is tacitly supporting the promotion, and therefore applauding the ploy by the Postal Service that will make it more expensive to mail letters. I didn't mean to suggest I thought that was good.

I pay most of my bills online, and typically I mail only a single envelope per month. When I buy a sheet of stamps it can last me until the price of postage goes up again. The effect of a price increase doesn't affect me that deeply, because my routine doesn't revolve around putting pieces of mail in boxes (whether they look like characters from Star Wars or not). However, I can certainly understand how such an increase in postage costs could make a big difference to someone who uses the mail system a lot.

Granted, it's probably because more and more people are going over to the side I'm on--mailing less and less (and therefore purchasing less postage)--that makes the Postal Service try these schemes like a cross-promotional tie-in with the anniversary of one of the strongest pop culture touchstones of this generation; they're grasping at anything that might get people to buy more stamps.

So I'm not sure whether I'm the problem because I contributed to promoting the scheme (and without getting a cut from anyone who benefits from it) or because I don't buy more stamps (thereby contributing to the circumstances leading to the scheme). And further, if I purchase a sheet of the Star Wars stamps promoted by the R2-D2 mailboxes, am I doing my part to help put the USPS back on track (and delay the need for future price increases for at least longer than would otherwise prove necessary) or am I only encouraging such ploys (and making them think they should explore more such promotions that they can use to justify raising postage rates again)?

I guess I can only conclude that Sith lords have infiltrated the highest levels of the USPS, and that by spotlighting in that post their attempts to appeal to a fond memory from childhood I fell prey to the allure of the Dark Side.

And I didn't even get a cool "Darth" name.