I read with interest a story in this morning’s Herald Sun print edition (online story: Porkie posties ban) about an Australia Post policy to only hire delivery staff at or under 90kg (to allow for 40kg of mail on a motorbike that is limited in 130kg in total weight for the postie and the mail).

My instant thought for a media campaign would be to pick some popular AFL footballers — obviously professional, fit and healthy athletes — over the 90kg mark to expose the absurdity of this policy. Mel and I discussed this over breakfast.

And at 4:36pm today… breaking news on news.com.au — the Communications Workers Union (CWU) had the same thoughts and this is from the news.com.au article (Protest on posties weight limit):

But the union today hit back, drawing on well-known footballers who tipped the scales above the limit to highlight what they say is an arbitrary weight limit.

“Nathan Buckley (91kg), Matthew Lloyd (92kg) and Nick Riewoldt (92kg) would automatically fail despite their obvious fitness and athleticism, exposing Australia Post’s claims for the nonsense that they are,” CWU secretary Joan Doyle said.

That’s a simple, effective way to drive home the message, and I’m glad to see this marketing tactic was the one that has been used to publicly oppose the policy. Perhaps in this case the CWU has ESP!