Junk Mail Video Contest Provides Humorous Look at One of Society's Most Common Nuisances

LA JOLLA, CA--(Marketwire - June 3, 2008) - Postal junk mail can be a lot of things -- a drain on the environment, a potential privacy risk and a major annoyance. But who would've guessed it could serve as the inspiration for 10 funny videos? That's exactly what happened when a band of talented video producers accepted a cash challenge from ProQuo, a leader in stopping junk mail and managing catalogs, to create short, funny videos conveying the annoyance and waste of paper junk mail. After sifting through 160 total entries, ProQuo recently posted the Top 10 funniest videos and is encouraging consumers to judge the entries for themselves.

The competition is part of ProQuo's ongoing mission to educate consumers about how to take control of their personal information and stop unwanted junk mail. The average adult receives approximately 40 pounds of junk mail each year, which is not only a nuisance, but an unnecessary drain on the environment.

That's why contest finalist Zack Scott decided to create the video, "Sick Mailbox," about his mailbox becoming sick from way too much junk. Scott said the environmental consequences of junk mail motivated him to enter the contest. "I hate thinking about how it goes from a tree to a factory, to my mailbox, to my shredder, to my trash can and finally to a landfill," he said. "So much time, money, energy and resources are wasted daily."

Watch Scott's video.

Another video finalist, Dave Wolfe, said his team was specifically attracted to the identity theft angle. "The ProQuo creative brief captured our attention; we decided on the identity theft angle and conceptualized it in about 20 minutes," he said. "This led us to the overall creation of the video and how it affects the day-to-day lives of people in their homes."

Wolfe's video shows a husband and wife arguing about how junk mail led to the man's identity being stolen, and how he's been replaced by a new and improved version of himself.

Watch Wolfe's video, "ID Theft."

Brett Slater dreamed up his winning entry by examining the damaging effects junk mail has on the environment. He imagined what trees would say if they could talk and came up with the animated "Poor Eddie." "I thought we should hear from the trees. I'm sure they miss each other after they are hacked down by loggers. I was able to show this using new animation software," Slater said.

Watch Slater's video.

ProQuo, Inc. is headquartered in La Jolla, California and was founded to put consumers in control of how businesses use their personal information. ProQuo helps consumers receive the offers they really do want while stopping the mail they don't want.

Contact Information: Contact: Chad Darwin 213.996.3776