Thursday, September 20, 2007

When a sponsor isn't really a sponsor

This American Express ad, appearing today at nytimes.com, is more than a bit disingenous. (Click on anything after the home page and I believe you'll see it. ) The ad acts as though Amex is granting visitors a big favor by making the Op-Ed columns free this week. In fact, as we all know, The New York Times said it was abandoning its paid subscription TimesSelect product on Tuesday—without it being contingent upon direct advertiser sponsorship or anything else. Everyone involved with this ad should know better.

No comments: