Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump appeared to tweet his displeasure at a New York Times ad that ran during the Academy Awards last night, according to Adweek. "For first time the failing @nytimes will take an ad (a bad one) to help save its failing reputation. Try reporting accurately & fairly!" he wrote.
- The 30-second spot, titled "The Truth is Hard," was created by the agency Droga5 and highlights the message that a free press and independent journalism are important to understanding current events.
- "The Truth is Hard" is the Times' first bit of TV advertising since 2010, its first brand-focused spot in 10 years and its first Oscars TV advertisement. The entire campaign includes national and local television roll outs, along with digital, social, outdoor and print promotions.
For first time the failing @nytimes will take an ad (a bad one) to help save its failing reputation. Try reporting accurately & fairly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2017
Dive Insight:
The New York Times stands as one of the most prominent among a number of media outlets that have been directly named by Trump and other administration spokespeople as purveyors of fake news or media that are otherwise untrustworthy.
"The Truth is Hard" comes as a direct rebuke to those accusations, and is a brand campaign at a scale that is unusual for a publisher to run. The Academy Awards stand as one of the biggest TV destination viewing nights of the year, which put The New York Times and its pointed message in front of an audience of millions.
Adweek noted that, by tweeting about the spot, Trump is, if anything, providing the campaign free publicity as well as reinforcing its core message that the media and the truth are under fire. While many brands are tip-toeing around political messaging for fear of consumer backlash and boycotts, the actual tangible effects of these movements remain nebulous at best.