A few days ago, two newspapers in Philadelphia ran some ads for "Derrie-Air," a purported new airline that would charge passengers by the pound. (The news outlets wanted to test how effective their ads were.) We didn't cover the story when it broke because we thought the idea was, well, kind of stupid.
But after the initial wave of "What if an airline did that?!" coverage, the ads are now getting a second look from media watchers. Was it ethical for the Inquirer and the Daily News to run fake ads, Editor & Publisher wonders? The general consensus on the web: Nope!
Related Stories:
· Philly Airline Ads Draw Responses, Ethics Concerns [E&P]
· Newspapers Run Ads about Fake Airline [AP, via Google]
· Derrie-Air: Philly to LA? [World Hum]
· Derrie-Air Exposed [SMH]]]>