Oh, it was Michael Luscombe, CEO of Woolworths, obscured by the ad for Smart Investor magazine stuck on the front cover of today’s Australian Financial Review.
The decision to stick this ad on top of news on the front page and over a news photo can’t have been made by newspaper people – I’d be shocked if they agreed to have their product compromised in such a way.
These stuck on ads tell us something about the respect, or lack thereof, the folks at Fairfax have for the medium which was once at the core of their business.
Beyond the ad itself is the disrespect folks at Fairfax show newsagents. They pressure us to promote Smart Investor in store and then they go and use products we sell to try and take sales of the title we are promoting from us. I can’t compete with the $43 off offer. Their pitch makes newsagents look expensive.