Editor & Publisher
As part of a campaign to increase newspaper readership, the Newspaper Association of America worked with The Martin Agency to develop ads that would run in most dailies around the country. The slogan: “Smart is the new sexy.”
“Literally, everyone at the agency, everyone on our committee, and then everyone on the board had a 100-percent positive reaction to that headline,” [Donna] Barrett said. “It sets a fun new tone for [the industry]. Who doesn’t want to be perceived as both smart and sexy? And if you can tie the two together? All the better!”
“We got unanimous agreement for every company represented on the board to run this campaign,” [Mark] Contreras said.
The slogan has also been used to promote CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” See if you can find the newspaper in the ad:
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- E&P notes the ad has “already appeared in Gannett’s Journal News and Arizona Republic; the Minneapolis Star Tribune; Advance Publications’ The Patriot-News; Cox’s Austin American-Statesman; Hearst’s Times Union; Gatehouse’s Rockford Register Star; and Times Publishing’s Erie Times-News.”
An E&P writer proposed using people in the ads, instead of the cartoon, including one that says “There’s a difference between a newspaper journalist and an online writer. One bites hard and digs for truth, one yaps,” leading Jim Brady to cancel his subscription to the magazine. || Previously: “Newspaper people are NOT the target,” the NAA said after a 2007 campaign was criticized
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