The entire front page of their Saturday newspaper co-opted by a giant advertisement for the new Disney film Alice in Wonderland. They've done stuff like this before at the Times. The most egregious of which came last May when an ad for the ill-fated NBC series "Southland" appeared on the front page in the guise of a news story.
The advertisement even included a line about "this reporter," and described his "experiences" during a "ride-along." Journalists everywhere squirmed.
Marketers love these things. Not only do they have a prominent ad on the front page of a major daily, but everyone talks about it too. And, as they say, any publicity is good publicity. Or, as the NBC marketing execs put it, the attention stirred up by the ad helped "magnify" the message. (It didn't work out so well for Southland, which was cancelled by NBC after six weeks. The show just got picked up by TNT in January of this year, but so far, no plans for a second season.)
The Alice in Wonderland ad isn't quite as bothersome as the Southland ad. And frankly, we should be used to this: after all, Google and Facebook ads lie in wait for us constantly on the internet, pouncing after our every click. Corporate marketers (especially drug companies) film fake news packages and send them to local TV stations for use on the air.
But newspapers...the printed media, should be a bastion of unadulterated coverage. The wall between a media organization's advertising department and the news department has been crumbling in so many places. Let newspapers be the last stand.
LA Times film critic Kenneth Turan did his part. Two days before today's ad, he wrote a not-too-friendly review of the film. (See if you can find it among all the ads.)
Of the giant Johnny Depp adorning the fake front page, LA Times editor Russ Stanton said it best: "Obviously, it was not my decision." But it should be. The editors should get to decide what goes on the front page. Then again, inept management at the LA Times is nothing new.
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