NYTimes’ pathetic cab ad

Reading James Surowiecki’s sneer about NYT’s bathetic advertising of its own product reminded me that I’d recently taken note of NYTimes ad running in the TV screen the back of my cab.

What unnerved me the most was the Times ad’s emphasis on “conversation”… “center of the conversation”… “get the conversation going”… and “be part of a great conversation.” All these phrases were uttered by hip-ish looking 20 and 30-somethings.

Clearly, the Times is desperately hoping to stay relevant to the under-sixty-year-olds who are turning their collective back on the Times, even as they consume and create giant new volumes of their own media (aka conversation.)

Advertising its ersatz conversations, the Times’ resembles a Baptist church trying to compete for the hearts and minds of indie rock fans by running ads declaring “hey, we’ve got great music too!”