LA Times Front Page Media Ad Placement
(This blog is about advertising and controversial media placement. It originates from an interesting article one year ago.)
On April 9, 2009, the LA Times printed an advertisement for an NBC television drama called “Southland.” It was cleverly placed on the front page and read like an editorial. By doing this, NBC hoped that the fake story would entice people to watch its nationally televised debut. Unfortunately, many readers–including the journalists at the LA Times found the “advertorial” embarrassing and disrespectful both to the readers and the journalistic integrity of the Times. The outcome: A petition signed by many LA Times journalist’s expressing their disapproval of the media placement and many disgruntled subscribers flooding mailboxes, inboxes, and forums with complaints that the newspaper had hit an all-time low. Some even cried deceit and trickery.
I absolutely understand why the hard working journalists were mad. They dedicate their careers delivering accurate and insightful information to the public. Some swear it’s their sole purpose in life. But let’s not be naive. The world has turned its cold shoulder to its once most beloved medium.
The newspaper undoubtedly receives a majority of its funding from advertisements. Without them, the newspaper may have been extinct a long time ago. The same journalists that were lining up to sign a petition stating their dissatisfaction with management’s decision to run the ad, are the same journalists that nearly were standing in an unemployment line a few months ago. Additionally, the LA Time’s parent company, the Tribune Company, filed for bankruptcy in December of 2008.
Now think about this… If you go on the internet these days, even the online versions of these “prestigious” newspapers are saturated with advertisements on their homepages. Additionally, popular magazines from TIME to Men’s Health constantly have ads that look like articles. No complaints there, though. And management is wise for accepting the reality of business and running the ads as such.
But there are two more things to consider: Ethics and the law. The ethical responsibility of advertisers is not to deceive the consumer. Although the advertisement read like an editorial, it certainly did not look like one from the LA Times. First of all, there is a thick, black border separating the advertisement from the rest of the paper. Second, the typeface is different. Third, NBC’s trademark and colorful logo and the word ADVERTISEMENT is prominently displayed at the top of the advertisement. Lastly, at the conclusion of the advertisement, it read that the above was “…just one of the many incredible stories from the new NBC series ‘Southland.’” By the way, it was in italics and told viewers that they should tune into NBC tonight (TVweek.com).
According to the FTC’s laws outlined in the Deception Policy, the advertisers made the necessary additions to ensure it does not have the likeliness or even the capacity to deceive the consumer. The AAAA’s Standards of Practice also are not violated because there are no misleading statements tricking the reader into watching the show. Sure, the layout looks familiar to a newspaper, but it is suspiciously out of place… Especially if you actually took the time to notice it.
In closing, advertisements are just as fundamental to the makeup of a newspaper as the funnies, political cartoons, the TV listings, and crosswords. The news is informational, but so are advertisements. In this case a fictitious, but inspiring story about heroism took the place of the real-life, senseless murder story that normally goes in that spot daily… But don’t fret! It can still be found on page 3.
What are your thoughts on this?
Additional sources of information: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/nbcs_southland_pushes_ad_limit.php
Additional examples of controversial media buys:
San Antonio Express Front Page Media Buy
New York Times Front Page Media Buy
