Dominic Wong is one of seven USPS workers starring in a new commercial
In mid-February, the United States Postal Service (USPS) began airing a new commercial starring seven USPS workers from post offices nationwide. Port Washington’s Postmaster Dominic Wong is one, out of the hundreds of thousands of USPS employees, chosen to star in the new commercial called ‘Orchestrated Delivery.’
The commercial opens with engines starting and Wong conducting postal vehicles out of loading docks, setting the theme for the ad. The 30-second commercial is set to the catchy song I Like To Move It by Reel 2 Reel Featuring The Mad Stuntman. The ad features postal vehicles traveling across the nation, the inner workings of a USPS facility and happy customers receiving their mail and packages. Wong, casted as ‘traffic conductor,’ is featured at the beginning and end of the commercial.
The commercial highlights the changes coming to the USPS network. Changes coming to USPS highlighted in the commercial include faster, more reliable and informed delivery.
Usually, USPS features their mail carriers in their commercials. Because of the changes coming to the USPS network, they decided to extend the commercial casting call to all USPS employees because the network changes involved every employee on every level.
Wong first saw the casting call on the USPS website. While he thought it was interesting, he didn’t do anything with it. In an interview with Wong and Amy Gibbs, United States Postal Service Strategic Communications Specialist for Long Island, Queens and Connecticut, the Port Washington News got to learn about Wong’s filming experience.
“I am terrified of public speaking,” said Wong.
When Wong was on vacation, USPS sent a second link for more casting. Wong put his fears aside and asked his wife for help submitting the question-and-answer casting video. Wong recorded the video in their Florida Airbnb and sent it to USPS for review.
Wong submitted the video in August of 2022 and assumed the casting call was for a holiday commercial. He assumed he wasn’t picked for the commercial as the holidays came and went in December.
In the middle of January, Wong received an email from Drew Baker (one of the commercial’s production crewmembers) asking for travel information to set up Wong’s trip to Los Angeles, CA, to film the ad. Wong thought it was a bogus email and deleted it. The next day, he received another email and realized it was real.
Wong was flown to LA for three days the following week to be in the USPS commercial. The commercial was filmed at a USPS processing plant in Santa Clarita, CA.
While acting was never something Wong anticipated he would be doing as a USPS postmaster, all seven USPS employees had to fill out SAG (Screen Actors Guild) information to be in the commercial. Wong and the seven other USPS employees got to play ‘actor’ for a few days, receiving special perks like catered food trucks and dressing trailers.
“The food was spectacular,” said Wong. “I think the first day was Kobe meatloaf wrapped in bacon; it was awesome. I’ve never had a meatloaf like that. On the second day, they had some kind of seared tuna on top of some fancy fried. I was in a trailer, and they put makeup on us and all this stuff. It was very different and surreal.”
Wong experienced what it was like to be an actor for those few days of shooting for the commercial. He was on set for long days and learned how many people it takes to create such a production.
“It was a lot of people. I would think 70 to maybe 80 people that had to be on point at the same time for my shoots,” said Wong. “It took about three or four tries, and then we were done. On the second day, I was there from eight in the morning to seven or eight at night, and most of my shoots were at night.”
“I didn’t have any lines, but there were some people that had lines. So for them, they were nervous on how to remember the lines or how they could say the lines or how it’s going to sound, and how many takes,” said Wong. “I didn’t have any lines, which was good for me.”
Since being one of the stars in USPS’s newest commercial, Wong has also gotten to experience dealing with fans.
“Other postal employees and some of my family members have been asking for my autograph,” Wong laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this experience. The experience was great, meeting the people and being in a commercial. And now that it’s on YouTube, it’ll always be there. I can just look it up, and we’ll hear that song ‘I like to move it, move it.’ Every time I hear that, the experience will pop into my head.”
Being on set with other USPS employees allowed Wong to learn about the responsibilities of different positions and the future network changes coming to USPS. With about 61 employees and 31 carrier routes at the Port Washington Post Office, Wong knows what it means to be a part of a team.
“I do try to help out my fellow offices whenever they’re in need of either supplies or staffing to assist with the job,” said Wong. “I help out as often as I can, whenever I can. That’s, that’s what it means to be a part of a team.”
Check out Port’s local postmaster in the USPS commercial on YouTube; visit www.youtube.com/@usps
If you want to join the USPS team (and possibly be the next star in a USPS commercial), visit usps.com/hiring for job opportunities.
