05/17/2026
When I moved into a new college apartment last August, we signed up for Spectrum internet because that’s what the previous tenants used.
Like any normal house, we always got random spam mail, but one thing we noticed was how persistent AT&T was. We didn’t go to the mailbox every single day, but every week or so, when we’d go to check it, we’d have multiple pieces of mail from AT&T waiting for us.
At first, it was the standard brochures and pamphlets. Then they added the branded envelopes with the deals sealed inside. After a few months, I brought inside what I thought was a handwritten letter from maybe our school or a nearby organization, wrapped with a normal USPS stamp and a textured envelope. I opened it up, and to my surprise, it was another folded-up pamphlet from AT&T.
It’s funny because their original flyers weren’t getting our attention. We didn’t even open them anymore and would immediately walk them over to the recycling bin. So to get more creative and make sure we actually opened the mail, they started disguising it as something seemingly important or personal.
One thing I always questioned after opening this mail was just how effective these campaigns are overall. We live in a college town where most people apartment-hop every 1–2 years, and many students don’t even pay their own utility bills. So despite how persistent these campaigns are, there’s a good chance many Athens residents either don’t have much motivation to switch providers or aren’t even the actual decision-makers.
While it was unsuccessful in getting us to switch (because why would we with only a few months left on our lease), their varying use of mailers definitely caught my attention. 😅📪
