Here's a Newsweek cover from 100 years into the future: an aerial view of the United States with California split off from the mainland and floating in the Pacific. The headline: "California Island: More popular than ever 62 years after the Big Quake." These faux futuristic covers are part of a $40-million, three-year campaign by the magazine industry to win advertisers and try to convince them that magazines, which have existed in the United States for nearly 250 years, are likely to be here for the next 250, come what may.

The next Miss America will need more than a winning smile and a skimpy swimsuit as organizers give in to sagging ratings and convert the country's oldest beauty pageant into yet another reality TV show.

Elvis may have left the building, but for Madison Avenue, it is as if he were still inside, helping woo consumers more ardently than ever.