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What did the two kinds of packages actually look like?

If the illustration is accurate, the "atheism" tape is white with black text, while the other tape is perhaps standard brown packing tape.

Could it be that the standard packing tape is just better tape?

Could it be that black text on white tape confuses a scanner somewhere?

A better control might be identical tape but with a different word (something neutral like "shoes").

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These guys share an office with us, so I saw the packages. The Atheist tape is standard packing tape, there's no difference in quality of the tape.

Great, so can you tell us what the tape looked like? Is the illustration accurate?

the illustration is accurate. you're right about the better control, we may do that if we replicate the study... but really I don't think the absence of writing on the neutral tape can explain the findings.

> ... but really I don't think the absence of writing on the neutral tape can explain the findings.

To me, it seems like a far more likely explanation than a USPS bias against packages affiliated with atheism.

Yes, the illustration is accurate.

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