Mr. Postman, Look and See Is There a Bookstore in Your Ad for Me?

Two major purveyors of the printed word came together recently when the United States Postal Service recruited a bookstore for one of the locations featured in its holiday advertising campaign.

The television commercial was shot at Reading on Walden in Chicago all day December 10, said bookstore owner John Presta. He told BTW, "It went very well. [The ad] is showing all the time now. It's called 'Holiday.'"

The last scene in the ad takes place in front of Reading on Walden and features a postman making a delivery to "S. Claus." Presta said that they put fake snow down and let the bookstore leave up its Book Sense sign in the window. Unfortunately, because the door to the store was open the logo was covered, and "You can't tell it's a bookstore," Presta commented wryly.

There seem to be a lot of bookstores (real or imaginary) popping up in advertising lately. Madison Avenue has a penchant for selling cars by positioning them gleaming in front of bookstores. The good news is -- they all appear to be independent bookstores.

-- Molly Sackler