LA Times Places Large Ad on Front Page

The times are tough and today it reared its ugly head on the front page of the LA Times. An L-shaped ad with a thick black border surrounds a traditional ad and some clearly marked fake editorial content (in a different font, no less) sits in the lower left hand corner, notes freelance journalist Charles Apple on his blog.

As controversial as it is, the ad definitely creates buzz in that viral way (example, right here on LAist).

"I'm told by a trades source that NBC was surprised how far the Times was willing to go in selling its main news cover," wrote Kevin Roderick at LA Observed. Variety reports that the idea was of the LA Times because it's for for tonight's premiere of Southland, a cop show that is based in Los Angeles.

The Times' review of the show didn't go over so well: "The pilot, for all its horrific crimes and grimy street scenes, is strangely bland. Not to mention white. Why there's only one person of color in the main cast of cops and detectives is beyond strange, and that sets up, at least in the pilot, a regrettable color line between the good guys and the bad guys."

Also: It's not based in Los Angeles, or California for that matter, but Parks & Recreation premieres tonight, too, which we hear has city employees of the same named department eager to see.

Images via Charles Apple