UPS vs. FEDEX: Ultimate Whiteboard Remix (Original Cut)

Starting with MSNBC, Reason has started airing commercials on cable news channels with the goal of bringing a new audience to Reason.com and Reason magazine

For our first TV spot, we chose a slimmed-down version of our popular and acclaimed 2009 video, "UPS vs. FEDEX (Ultimate Whiteboard Remix)", which was nominated for a digital National Magazine Award and explores the way in which federal labor classifications lead firms to jockey for political favors rather than customer satisfaction.

See the new 60 second version of the Ultimate Whiteboard Remix as seen on MSNBC here.

You may have heard the UPS is in quite the political fight with FEDEX. Though both are package-delivery companies, they're governed by totally different federal labor rules. As a result, UPS's workforce is much more heavily unionized than FEDEX's-and more than twice as expensive.

So now UPS is trying to get FEDEX reclassified under federal law as a way of screwing a competitor. That's horrendous, but it also makes a sick kind of business sense. And it also reveals the real villain: A government that is big enough to absolutely, positively guarantee it can screw any business. Overnight.

"UPS Vs. FEDEX" was produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie (who also hosts). Approximately two minutes long.

This video is based on "Using Unions as Weapons," by Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy, which appeared in the October 2009 print edition of Reason. Read that article here .

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video.