Media Decoder: The New Yorker Sings, 'O, Canada'

The new issue of The New Yorker magazine might as well be called The Canadian. Yes, The Canadian.

The issue, which is coming out on Monday, has a cover date of June 28. Inside, every ad page other than a house ad has been sold to Canadians: more than a dozen government units, tourism organizations, financial firms and educational institutions.

The reason for the Canadian ad content is the fact that the coming G-8 and G-20 summits will be held in Ontario, from Friday through Sunday. The goal is to reach the “thought leader” readers of The New Yorker with positive pitches about Canada as a place to do business, visit or attend school.

It is believed to be the first time in 85 years that all the different advertisers in a single issue of The New Yorker have something in common.

The issue differs from an issue in 2005 that was sold to a single advertiser, which marked the first time that the magazine had sold all its ad space to one company. In that instance, for the Aug. 22, 2005 issue, the sole advertiser was Target.

Because “it’s not a single advertiser” this time, Lisa Hughes, vice president and publisher of The New Yorker, said in a telephone interview on Monday, “we had to sell each one separately.”

The advertisers, buying more than 20 ad pages in the June 28 issue, include the federal government; the governments of two provinces, Alberta and Ontario; tourism organizations for Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec and Toronto; the Royal Bank of Canada; a Canadian brokerage, Gluskin Sheff; and the Trinity College School.

The ad sales staff of The New Yorker worked with all those advertisers to get the ad pages sold as well as with Bob Dodd of Dodd Media in Toronto, an advertising sales representative that works on behalf of The New Yorker in Canada.

Ms. Hughes said that although she could not disclose the ad revenue for the issue, it was “bigger than the Target deal.” In 2005, that deal, for about 18 ad pages, was estimated to have brought in something under $1.1 million, but it was a very rough estimate.

The issue does not contain any note from the publisher or to alert readers to the distinction surrounding the ad pages. The American Society of Magazine Editors recommends an explanatory note be published when all the ad pages in an issue are bought by the same advertiser.

Because that is not the case here, Ms. Hughes said, a note was not needed.

Besides, she added, “I think the reader’s smart enough to figure it out.”
...Media Decoder