Annoying marketing from the US federal government

First, I have to say that I’m generally a fan of and am fascinated by the USPS (and other postal services around the world). The fact that I can write on a piece of paper, drop it in a box, and have full confidence that it will be delivered to the right place is kind of amazing.

That all being said, it makes me sad that these screenshots are from the website of an official agency of the United States federal government:

Lowbrow marketing page with words like 'exclusive coupons' and very large buttons for opting in, with only a small 'Skip this step' link that allows the user to continue to the confirmation page for a change of address.Lowbrow marketing page with a timer indicating that the customer only has a few minutes to redeem an offer to have catalogs sent to their address or to receive coupons.

I understand that the postal service may not like what it’s doing, and is desperate for revenue. So here’s a challenge: How would you change the system so that the postal service had an incentive to reduce junk mail?

And a question for anyone outside of the US: Do you get junk/unsolicited/spam mail in your country? How many pieces do you receive per day or week? Is there a way to opt out of it?