The American Society for Magazine Editors is whacked.
According to Folio, the trade association is bent out of shape because XXL editor-in-chief Elliott Wilson appears in a Roccawear ad on his magazine’s back cover.
“No person on an editorial staff should ever be involved in producing or participating in advertising,” says ASME executive director Marlene Kahan. “[The XXL ad] appears to be a violation of ASME guidelines.”
The ad in question is one in Rocawear’s new multimedia ad campaign called “I Will Not Lose”, which was inspired by company co-founder and CEO, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. It features recording artists like Ciara and Three 6 Mafia, as well as individuals who have overcome adversity in their lives.
For more on this topic, see Pro Hip Hop.
Rules are rules, but this seems a little harsh.
No it wouldn’t be ethical for the editor to give Roca extra editorial coverage in exchange for the ad (though you could get that in most Utah based pubs.)
It’s ironic in that in my mind the target market is about as lawless and as you can get. (safe to say a bunch of magazine editors WON’T be getting together to ‘put a cap in his ass.’)
Seems to me that it making an editor a celebrity would be good for the magazine business – god knows they need it.