My copy of the Sunday, September 2, New York Times appeared at my door with a black, glossy four page advertisement wrapped around it. At first I thought our doorman had forgotten to include a first section of the newspaper.
As you know, the print edition of The New York Times is distributed peacemeal, starting Thursday, when we first get some of the sections in advance. Then Saturday other sections appear. Finally, on Sunday, it is the first book, sports and Metropolitan New York section.
Upon closer inspection I realized that the glossy ad, rather minimalist in design, with only a small headline set in all caps The Death of Retail was a wrap around. I am sure RT New York, which advertises a “six story, 90,000 square feet historical landmark” meant good monetization for the Times.
How do readers react? I think favorably, especially when the ad is nicely designed and does not present much of an obstacle to remove it and go on to reading the front page of the newspaper.
I wish we would see more wrap around ads in US newspapers. Their finances need this boost too.
Here is how it looked:
The first news section of the Times appeared inserted into the glossy ad:
This is the double spread in the center.
And this is the back page of the wrap-around:
TheMarioBlog post #2901