The Ethical Optimist

Editor & Publisher recently reported on the ethical quandary posed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily news when they “ran a slew of false ads for a non-existent airline in an attempt to gauge the power of print and online advertising.”

To get a sense of the online ad, you can visit http://flyderrie-air.com.

You’ll see that the online version of the ad is quite funny, and anyone with half a brain would probably realize something was fishy.

Here’s the controversy: many have cited a lack of full disclosure on the ads and the fact that they are misleading to the public.

The website to which the print ads directed consumers had a very clear disclaimer which stated, “The Derrie-Air campaign is a fictitious advertising campaign created by Philadelphia Media Holdings to test the results of advertising in our print and online products and to stimulate discussion on a timely environmental topic of interest to all citizens. All names, identities, characters, persons, whether living or dead, companies, situations, offers, products, services, and other information appearing in this campaign and the associated website are fictitious. Any resemblance to real or fictitious names, identities, characters, persons, whether living or dead, companies, situations, offers, products, services, or other information, is purely coincidental and unintentional. In other words, smile, we’re pulling your leg.”

The problem, as many saw it, was that the print ads did not offer a disclosure statement. Not having seen them, I cannot comment.

I can, however, comment on Kelly McBride’s statement that “anytime you deceive your audience, you run the risk of compromising their ability to trust you.”

I agree. While the ad is funny, and shouldn’t be taken seriously, the fact that readers were misled is not in keeping with maintaining consumer’s trust in these two venerable publications.

One of the most ironic aspects of the story, though, is the fact that officials from Philadelphia Media Holdings (parent company of the newspapers) and Inquirer editors were “unavailable for comment.” Sorry, but journalists are always beating on PR people for not allowing execs to comment on certain stories…this is CLEARLY a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Maybe they should call me for my workshop, “Managing the Media Reputably.”