A dreadful coverwrap

So here’s how The Sydney Morning Herald will look on news stands this morning.  

SMH coverwrapIt’s hard to tell who’s the winner here, as the image looks (unintenionally, I’m sure) more like the paper’s been the victim of some last minute piece of dramatic censorship.

Not the editorial – which is of course the price one pays for selling a cover wrap.

I’m not sure that the brand gains very much from it either. Not til the paper is opened, at the very least.

And certainly not the newsagents – it was delivered to them about three hours late this morning – presumably because of the production process of producing the wrap.

Here’s how it looks when open. The brand is Mastercard:

SMH coverwrap Mastercard

Tim Burrrowes

November 20th, 2009 at 9:53 am

  • Email This Post
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Digg
  • Yahoo Buzz
  • Sphinn
  • Technorati Favorites
  • Delicious

Comments


  1. Ratatoskr
    20 Nov 09
    10:01 am

    2. I guess it kind of catches your eye, as you wonder what the hell is going on.

  2. j davison
    20 Nov 09
    10:10 am

    3. Sure is eye catching.
    But has it devalued the effect of a real censorship incident in the future, should one take place?

  3. Simon T Small
    20 Nov 09
    10:17 am

    4. Maybe they’re struggling to sell ads. Having to give more for less.

  4. Clinton Duncan
    20 Nov 09
    10:22 am

    5. Fuckups are always eye catching…

  5. digitard
    20 Nov 09
    10:41 am

    6. hmm, tough for them to ‘win’…options for creative, dynamic executions are somewhat limited in press. They certainly don’t give these away, Mastercard would have paid a pretty penny for this

  6. jape
    20 Nov 09
    12:01 pm

    7. Not only coverwraps, they (I’m assuming the SMH, around here it’s The Age) have been putting post-it notes over their own mastheads. Given that the most effective ad for a newspaper is … the newspaper, you have to wonder why they mess so clumsily with their own brands. It’s the equivalent of, say, a car company renting out space in its ads for a chewing gum promotion. It also screams of management that knows nothing about marketing.

  7. Larry
    20 Nov 09
    12:42 pm

    8. wow the horrible intrusive ads they do online are making it to their print version now. well done.

  8. Brian
    20 Nov 09
    1:11 pm

    9. It was f#cking appalling. I have the SMH home delivered and it was all mangled anyway.

    It was trying to be so avant garde it was merely painful.

    Which begs the question: do Mastercard have a clue? Or do they just want to piss everyone off?

    I don’t think many of us have forgotten that diabolical TV ad a few years ago where they overdubbed a clearly American baseball game and tried to make it look like cricket at the SCG. Blech!

    Do these people not learn? Are they stupid? I will never use a Mastercard ever!

  9. Tom
    20 Nov 09
    1:19 pm

    10. Grumpy broadsheet readers…

  10. Pete
    20 Nov 09
    1:42 pm

    11. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

    Someone’s backside will get kicked for this.

    Hard.

  11. Bill Posters
    20 Nov 09
    2:57 pm

    12. “hmm, tough for them to ‘win’…options for creative, dynamic executions are somewhat limited in press. ”

    Bollocks they are.

    If you can’t come up with a “creative, dynamic execution” on a full page full colour in a broadsheet you probably need to get out of advertising.

  12. Mountainman
    20 Nov 09
    2:59 pm

    13. I read the herald this morning and couldn’t have told you who the ad was for until I read it here. It was annoying enough to make me grumble, but not enough to actually read it. Regardless of impact on the papers brand, it seems a pretty poor ad buy for Mastercard.

  13. John Grono
    20 Nov 09
    5:58 pm

    14. Great idea Jape …. I’m calling Holden about my new concept car … the Wrigleydore!

  14. Idea
    20 Nov 09
    6:01 pm

    15. Sack the agency – total mess up…

  15. matt
    23 Nov 09
    3:49 pm

    16. Hey tim,

    I agree with you, but I quite liked the Prado ‘tracing paper’ wrap this morning – it’s not going to make me buy the car, but it defintely made me notice and look at it
    cheers
    m

  16. Sam
    23 Nov 09
    6:36 pm

    17. Erm, it’s not transparent and certainly not ‘clear’ to make the headline work. It’s rubbish .

  17. mumbrella
    23 Nov 09
    7:06 pm

    18. Hi Sam,

    You’re in the wrong post. Try this one: http://mumbrella.com.au/transp.....late-12256

    Cheers,

    Tim – Mumbrella

  18. tonee
    24 Nov 09
    8:55 am

    19. The SMH might be good at convincing agencies to spend clients money but it counts for nothing if they can’t deliver a paper on time. Ask newsagents. It’s beyond a joke. My guy has to two do runs in the mornings now… the telegraph, then an hour or more later the SMH (when he has to shut the shop) Patience is running very thin

  19. legosity
    25 Nov 09
    10:50 pm

    20. wow – tough crowd.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Transparent SMH – great but late - mUmBRELLA