The Postal Inspection Service knows how to turn a negative seasonal occurrence into a positive outcome.
The law enforcement arm of USPS has won two industry awards for its recent crime-prevention holiday campaign.
“How to Have Unhappy Holidays” won first place in the Public Affairs Outreach Campaign category of the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awards.
The annual awards recognize superior government communications, as well as the work behind the productions.
The campaign also won first place in the Cross-Platform/Multi Channel Campaign category of the PRNews Digital Awards, which honor the year’s most outstanding digital communicators and their campaigns.
The Inspection Service’s crime-prevention holiday campaign was created in a film noir style and produced at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC.
The series of eight spots starred Postal Inspector Nick Hazzard, a fictious character played by Jossan Robinson, a graphic designer for the Inspection Service. The scripts were written by Dan Mihalko, a retired inspector and contractor, along with contributions from all Inspection Service Communications team members.
“The videos were produced solely in-house, which demonstrates the impressive creativity and talent of our communications staff. We’re fortunate to have them as our public-facing representatives,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale.
The 2022 holiday campaign offered a series of tips to educate customers on how to protect mail from theft and prevent becoming a victim of mail fraud scams during the holidays. The spots also encouraged customers to be alert and involved in reporting crime.
The campaign was featured on the Inspection Service’s 2022 holiday website, the USPS online holiday newsroom, and across all major platforms of social media.
The series of “How to Have Unhappy Holidays” is available on the Inspection Service’s YouTube channel.