Earlier this week we picked up Thisweek at the Apple Valley Transit Station on our way to work. After my wife was finished thumbing through, I nabbed Thisweekend and opened it up to find another stupid fucking ad-filled piece of garbage that is absolutely worthless to anyone except ECM Publisher’s bottom line.
Always looking for good laugh in the morning to lighten the mood, I looked over the contents and noticed two things:
1. Major’s is having an absolutely fucking stupid “Snuggie party” on Thanksgiving (hey Major’s, nothing like making your staff work on a holiday while a bunch of douchebags wander around in blankets. This is another reason why I won’t ever go in there again). The Major’s thing is mildly disturbing but is par for the course and it’s not Thisweek’s fault that Major’s attracts douchebags and wants to attract even more. I may say something about the readers Thisweek attracts however.
2. There was a random photo of an ice rink in Nicolet Commons Park which was subtitled, “If the weather cooperates, Nicollet Commons Park has an ice rink for people to use in the wintertime,” in the middle of bunch of useless information on where to find shopping–as if we didn’t already know.
From my knowledge of this, based on what was discussed back in April 2009, the Burnsville Foundation was to generate enough money to pay all costs associated with the rink and not one single cent was to come from taxpayer dollars. So what the fuck was the picture doing in an advertisement section of Thisweek?
Well the sane person in me says that it’s just a simple file photo which was used to take up space in an area where they couldn’t find enough advertisers willing to sit next to ads for “Snuggie night” or the ever so unpopular “Junior Claus”. However, on the other hand, the conspiracy theorist in me believes that the photo was a paid advertisement itself. Someone wants to sway public opinion and get the residents of Burnsville clamoring to get themselves an ice skating rink right in the Mayor’s backyard. What better way to do this but to pay for a picture to appear in the newspaper with the caption that the only thing holding it back is the unseasonably warm weather?
You might be saying to yourself that I am truly crazy for even thinking that but when you consider the fact that the mayor would do absolutely anything to have more people in that stupid park and is currently sitting at a 3-2 vote deficit for most anything she wants to accomplish, anything to get the Mary Sherry swing vote would be worth it to her.
In all seriousness though, is this what Thisweek’s newspaper has become? An advertisement riddled steaming pile with additional advertisement sections thrown in? We already know that they have problems with using photos but in this case they have put a completely unnecessary and unrelated photo in with a bunch of advertisements, presumably, to take up space but it ends up being confusing to the unknowing readership who might take the message it delivers the complete wrong way. Thisweek has done a lot of dumb fucking shit lately but with them removing their online editor position (more in-depth here) and adding these two ridiculous advertisement sections (and from what I understand from multiple sources, will only be doing more in the future), they look like they’re tumbling down the hill faster than some others. It’s time to rethink how you do business and fast. Remember, your advertisers are not your customers, the readers are and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.
So what do you think about yet another stupid fucking advertisement package inside Thisweek? Do you pay the least bit of attention to those inserts? Can you believe advertisers are actually paying to put their crap in there? How about the completely out of place picture of an ice rink in Nicollet Commons Park? Whatever you think about Thisweek’s on-going bullshit advertisements go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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November 25th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I always thought a “snuggie” was like a wedgie. That could make for an interesting party, as people who would wear those stupid blanket wraps in public deserve a good wedgie.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:13 am
The ThisWeek “photo” of the ice rink is perhaps laying the groundwork of the argument: “this ice rink has been in the plan for ‘years’.” And “we’ve gone too far in the planning to stop now – see we already have preliminary concept plans for the ice rink – look at the pretty picture.” And: “people have been seeing this in the newspaper for years, they’re expecting it, so we “have” to give it to them.” blah, blah, blah. Once more the city thinking if they say something often enough, it will become true. Next thing you know, this rink plan will be expanded into an Olympic ice sheet and a smaller recreational rink, complete with promises to attract white tablecloth restaurants to the Heart of the City, a hotel with convention business, and retail, lots of retail.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Just to be clear, the ice rink has not actually been approved has it? I thought that while the donors were going to pay the initial costs, the city had to pay for upkeep after 5 years, and as they cant even keep up the parks they already have, this was not an option?
Did I miss something?
November 25th, 2009 at 8:46 am
How can Thisweek print a Nicollet Commons ice-rink “PHOTO,” along with a photo-credit cutline, of something that has never existed except on paper?
Am I wrong or was that just an artist’s rendering they tried to pass off as a photo?
Let me recap … Thisweek first lifts Bill’s photo and shamefully prints it without permission, attribution, or published apology. Next, Thisweek publishes a photoshopped rendering of a POSSIBLE pipeline of hot-chocolate-seeking customers for Jo Jos, giving their staffer “photo” credit for his ability to shoot the mayor’s vision with his magical camera?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:00 am
To be fair on the whole thing around my photo: the issue was resolved to my satisfaction.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I don’t get it. Given the current spending priorities, Burnsville will have more ice sheets than any place south of Nunavit this winter. They’ll just have to figure out how to get the cars off of them so people can skate. And if that doesn’t work, I heard Mayor Kautz’s “Plan B” is to film people walking up and down city sidewalks and doing a pedestrian version of the show “Ice Road Truckers” to sell to a national cable outlet. Think of the ad revenue THAT will bring in.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:29 am
A pleasing resolution with you, the photographer, does not make Thisweek’s sloppiness right or erase that it happened. Pepperidge Farm isn’t the only one remembering. :-)
Should Thisweek make an 1:1 apology to the person who created the ice-rink image (assuming it was not a Thisweek staffer, which would be an entirely different can of worms) instead of publicly owning up to the fact the published image 1) was a creative manipulation and 2) their staffer received undeserved “photo” credit, I’d say that was not right either.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am
It’s all grasping at straws – it’s a dying business model and the old-line print businesses are not adapting fast enough. I don’t get why you’d get rid of your online editor – if anything you’d want to pour more effort into that. it’s happening at the major dailies too. there’s clearly money online, it’s just not going to come as easy as the print side did and most of these media dinosaurs aren’t getting there.
December 17th, 2009 at 7:32 am
[...] not going to be an ice rink unless it’s 100% funded by an outside source. No matter how many images they stick in newspapers or send as greeting cards, the Burnsville City Council better not go back on its promise not to [...]