'New York Times' says, "Hi," to Hello ads

If it takes three to make a trend, than The New York Times has stumbled upon a phenomenon—a a sudden uptick in ads that greet consumers with a simple, "Hello." (Maybe the underlying theme here is lazy copywriters?) In his ad column today, Stuart Elliott identified campaigns for the iPhone, Avon, Lincoln Financial Group, Level vodka, Target and the National Marine Manufacturers Association. One he didn't mention, to the extent that Web site home pages are considered advertising, is the one pictured above, from the Virgin Atlantic home page.