Jacqueline Lee

Flyers - are they the new chewing gum? Should they be banned?

Most of the flyers that are shoved into our mail box are rather redundant. Yes, they inform the public of various sales, or the opening of yet another tuition centre, but more often than not, this information is not very useful to most. However, I feel that they shouldn’t be banned as this is a cheaper alternative than having their promotions or their advertising material printed in the newspapers.

Having an advertisement printed in a newspaper can be very expensive for some new companies as they do not have their fixed income yet and printing flyers and giving them out is a lot cheaper. However, some might feel that flyers should be banned as it fills their mail boxes and they find this irritating. This is why people who reside in HDB flats are able to “lock” their mailboxes to block spam mail, only allowing the post man access to their mailbox.

Several companies might hire part timers such as young teenagers to give out flyers for $5.50an hour. I have done so before, they would reject the flyers or even if they take them, they take one look at it and toss it into the garbage. What is the point of giving out flyers? A number of people who are hired to give out flyers are very forceful; they would push you to take their flyers.

In conclusion, flyers should not be banned - instead, they should be given out in moderation. They are a good source of advertising and sometimes can be quite informative to some people, for example if there’s a sale at courts or if a new tuition centre has opened in the vicinity.