Europe

UK's Royal Mail Wants Kids To Go Wild Over Sending Snail Mail

The U.K.'s mail service is calling its newest set of stamps "Animail."

UK's Royal Mail Wants Kids To Go Wild Over Sending Snail Mail
Royal Mail
SMS

Monkey see, monkey do. That's what the U.K.'s Royal Mail is hoping will happen after kids see these adorable animal-themed stamps.

Besides the monkey — err, orangutan ... close enough — the set includes a snake, chimpanzee, woodpecker, bat and koala bear.

The Royal Mail says it created the stamps, affectionately dubbed "Animail," to get kids excited about sending and receiving letters.

In today's world of email and texting, it's easy to see how kids might not automatically think of the post office when they want to communicate with someone — except for sending that letter to Santa.

A 2010 survey of 1,200 U.K. children found 1 in 5 had never received a handwritten letter, while about 1 in 4 hadn't written one in the past year.

So in an attempt to attract kids, Royal Mail not only made its "Animail" stamps colorful, but also designed the characters to cling to the sides of letters.

The design choices make the "Animail" stamps quite the departure from the U.K.'s traditional Queen Elizabeth stamps.

Royal Mail is now selling its animal-themed stamps on its website and in 3,700 post offices across the country.

This video includes images from Royal Mail Group and Getty Images.