Source: Adweek
Bogus ads that never ran are a scourge on advertising award shows. But now, you can make sure your bogus ads actually did run, at least in Canada, thanks to a new magazine that will print them, no questions asked. It Ran, the magazine, will be completely filled with ads—no other content whatsoever. It’s now accepting advertising submissions for the first issue, coming in August.
The website explains more: “We’ve all heard it. Time and time again. At advertising award shows when agencies are called up to the stage for certain award-winning work, many in the room quietly whisper to each other, ‘There’s no way that ran’. And sometimes they’re right. It’s questionable whether or not some award-winning work has run in a real publication. Until now. Introducing IT RAN, a magazine designed to be filled with 100% ads. No articles. No content. Just ads that you want to run. And for whatever reason, haven’t been able to. All to be distributed in our inaugural issue in the fall to every agency in the country.”
As the Adweek concluded: “It’s a great way to still cheat while not appearing to cheat, and it will be interesting to see who takes advantage.”
The whole thing is actually a charity fundraising campaign in disguise. It costs $500 to place a full-page ad in It Ran. All of that money will go to Canada’s National Advertising Benevolent Society, which helps Canadian professionals in the marketing and communications industry facing personal, career and family challenges due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties.
“Nobody understands the advertising industry, and the people who work in it, better than NABS,” says Louise Berube, director of allocations and services at NABS Canada. “But connecting with this audience in a meaningful way in order to fundraise can be difficult at best. So we decided to have a little fun and create something that we hope our industry will have some fun with themselves.”
See an amusing ad (by agency lg2) for It Ran here:
