Advertisement-only editions of the Salt Lake Tribune litter Utah neighborhoods

SALT LAKE CITY — (KUTV) Drew Hansen says he is sick and tired of seeing ugly green plastic bags full of nothing but ads.

"Every weekend, a green plastic bag of advertisements appears on my driveway," he said. "It's really just spam."

Hansen is one of several people who contacted Get Gephardt saying they are frustrated because they have struggled getting the so-called 'Money Bags' to stop showing up.

Hansen says it's more than just an eye-sore and a hassle to clean up the bags that litter his property.

"If I travel for work or if I am gone on vacation for a couple of weekends then the bags will pile up and then it's pretty apparent to strangers that there's nobody home," he said.

On the front page of the 'Money Bags,' which resembles a newspaper, it offers a phone number and website where people can go to cancel their "delivery service."

Hansen says he called.

"They just took down my address and said that they would stop delivering as soon as possible. That didn't work. The green bags kept appearing."

Hansen complained to his neighbors and on internet message boards and he learned that many others are having the same issues.

"We had all tried to opt out and had been unsuccessful," he said.

In fine print on the front page of the 'Money Bags' Hansen receives it reads, "an edition of the Salt Lake Tribune."

Tribune Administrator, Deputy Editor and Editorial Page Editor Tim Fitzpatrick referred Get Gephardt to the paper's distribution company, Utah Media Group.

In an email, Utah Media Group Vice President of Circulation Kelly Roberts said of the cancellation frustrations, "It takes approximately two (2) to three (3) weeks for delivery changes to be implemented. This is because packages and labels are created in advance of distribution dates."

But Hansen and others complain that the 'Money Bags' continued to show up at their homes several weeks, or even months, after canceling.

Roberts says sometimes cancelling doesn't work.

"There are times that the request for cancellation may not make it through the system to the carrier in the approved channels," he said.

Frustrated, Hansen decided to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and that did the trick, for him. He says he got a call from the Utah Media Group the very next day and an apologetic person promised to stop delivery immediately.

Hansen says he's glad the green bags no longer litter his yard but he says he frustrated it took so much work to get the "spam" to stop.

"Why are they so insistent on delivering it? Do they have their own ulterior motives?" he said.

Roberts says distribution areas for the 'Money Bags' editions of The Salt Lake Tribune are developed to meet advertiser requests.

"Money Bag distribution is a combination of requested (opt-in) and neighborhoods with preferred demographics," he said.

Roberts calls people who receive 'Money Bags,' "customers," even though it is clear many who receive them never agreed to do business with the Utah Media Group.

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