Maybe there is a god: Reader’s Digest files for bankruptcy

Iconic snail mail spam company Reader’s Digest has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but sadly they’re likely to survive.

The Reader’s Digest bankruptcy filing was pre-arranged with debtors, and will allow the company to restructure its debt, bringing it down from a whopping $2.2 billion to an apparently more manageable $500 million.

Sadly for those of us outside the United States, the bankruptcy only applies to the US entity, not the subsidiaries in countries such as Canada and Australia.

Although apparently much loved for its magazine, Reader’s Digest is perhaps better known for its direct marketing campaigns that include sweepstakes draws and dummy checks saying people have won. Magazine publishing is difficult across the board in the current economic climate, but spamming physical letterboxes in an age where consumer awareness is high must be a harder business again.