The Medium, The Message

Condé Nast has found a hole in the wall separating editorial from advertising, and will have its online staff produce a six-page advertorial supplement to run in several of its magazines.

The ad supplement will promote Samsung and run for eight months across Wired, Bon Appétit, Vanity Fair, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest and GQ.

Having the online staff produce the supplement was seen as a way  “to avoid ruffling the feathers of print editors, who are seen as more sensitive than their Web counterparts to being asked to serve up content on a directive from the advertiser,” MediaWeek says.

“Condé Nast insisted that editors and writers had free reign to select and reject content for the Samsung insert,” Paid Content says in its report.

Condé Nast did the same thing a few years ago for a section promoting Microsoft.

“Advertisers like advertorials when they contain original edit, because they can direct the theme if not the actual content, ensuring it’s relevant to their message,” MediaWeek says. “Meanwhile, the publication technically is abiding by American Society of Magazine Editors rules because it has the final say over the edit content.”

As best we can tell, MediaWeek means Condé Nast is abiding by the rule, technically, that says: “In order for a publication’s chief editor to be able to monitor compliance with these guidelines, every effort must be made to show all advertising pages, sections and their placement to the editor far enough in advance to allow for necessary changes.” But not necessarily: “A magazine’s editorial staff members should not be involved in producing advertising in that magazine.”