This year for Halloween, i am going to dress up as one of the great advertising icons. No, I am not going as Tony the Tiger or Mayor McCheese. Instead, I will dress up as Miracle Max from The Princess Bride. Released 21 years ago last month, The Princess Bride remains a terrific movie about media buying.

As the last bits of patriotic confetti floated to the floor of Denver's Invesco Field during the closing moments of the Democratic National Convention, little could anyone - Democrat, Republican, National Socialist - guess that a scant 12 hours or so later, Barack Obama would have his spotlight stolen as media darling of the presidential election's dog-and-pony show.