City Papers Offer Sympathy Ads

In the wake of advertising cancellations in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, newspapers are recouping some of their losses with sympathy ads.

Papers in the cities where the attacks took place are all running sympathy ads. The New York Times has been full of them the past few days. "It's unusual to see the number of ads and the size of ads appearing in situations like this," says Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. Many of the ads have been full page. Mathis is unsure of how many there have been.

The ads offer condolences for the deaths that have occurred and praise the heroic efforts of firefighters and other emergency workers.

Regular Times advertisers like Tiffany have bought sympathy ads along with a wealth of advertisers who have never used the Times before, including Oklahoma City and Kuwait.

The sympathy ads started last Thursday and have increased since then. Mathis is unsure how long they'll continue.

When asked whether advertisers are paying normal rates for sympathy ads, Mathis said rates are based on size and frequency, which indicates normal rates are being paid.

There has been a pull back in regular advertising in the Times, in the travel, financial services and other categories, Mathis says.

The Washington Post has also run many sympathy ads since last Friday, mostly from regular advertisers and foreign governments, including Kuwait, Canada and Germany, according to vice president business manager Ted Lutz.

The ads come after "millions of dollars were lost" from planned advertising pulled by travel, financial and other categories, Lutz says.

Besides traditional sympathy ads, many advertisers, including Giant Food, Chevy Chase Bank and Hecht's department stores ran ads to solicit contributions for relief funds they created. The Post ran its own ads to support relief efforts, Lutz notes.

The Post charged normal rates for the sympathy ads. "We didn't play around with the rate structure," Lutz says. "There wasn't time and we didn't think it was called for."

A few sympathy ads have also run in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Two local department stores, as well as United Airlines and Gateway computer ran ads, according to Janice Crile, national advertising manager. The paper had lost much of its regular advertising, with 90% of Sunday travel advertising and most domestic and European auto ads gone, she says.

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