Over the weekend, I happened to stumble upon this news link on Yahoo.

The L.A. Times apparently published a front page advertisement that looked very much like a regular news ad. Of course upon inspection, the advertisement disclaimer was there. According to AFP:

“Publisher Eddy Hartenstein told the Times he had decided to run the ad despite protests from the newsroom because he was trying to ensure the newspaper’s survival.

’Because of the times that we’re in, we have to look at all sorts of different — and some would say innovative — new solutions for our advertising clients,’ he said.”

Here is another example of innovation gone bad in my opinion. Clearly, revenue has taken a front seat to customer value in this case, with a potential long-term impact to customers and reputation.

I’m starting to see a trend here….