Dear Media Watchdog [a.k.a. Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times],
What did you think of the 8/22 New Yorker?

the most jaw-dropping collapse of the so-called sacred wall between editorial and advertising in modern magazine history.

You don’t say! What made your jaw drop?

A 90- page publication where it is almost impossible to discern any line of demarcation between Target’s advertising and the New Yorker editorial product.

Do you think readers could tell the difference?

sophisticated readers, such as those who regularly peruse the New Yorker

That would explain why I got it immediately. What made you so confused?

What is most stunning about the issue is the New Yorker’s refusal to clearly flag any of the pages and pages of copyless Target illustrations as “advertisements.” And in “ad” after “ad” it would be quite easy to confuse them for New Yorker editorial content, because all of them are done in a stylish format closely resembling the cartoons and illustrations for which the magazine has become famous.

Gee, Watchdog, since the cartoons usually have a punchline and the illustrations are keyed to the articles, I’m not sure why you would mistake a Target ad for either one. But actually, this ad looks a little bit like a New Yorker cover. So you probably thought that the folks at The New Yorkerhad cleverly added a whole bunch of Target-themed covers throughout the interior of the issue. That’s pretty insidious. How do you think the folks at Target feel now?

Target advertising executives must be laughing all the way to the image bank

Right, so they can deposit their image paychecks? Do they get paid in clipart?

Next time, Watchdog, leave the New Yorker bashing to me.

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P.S. Thanks for the tip, Gawker.

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