The Times, it is a-changing. It now lacks Tiffany.
Tiffany & Co., which for over a century has occupied the top right-hand corner of page A3 in the print edition of the New York Times, is giving up that space, according to WWD.
The decision stems from the company’s recent purchase by LVMH, and from new executive vice president of product and communications Alexandre Arnault’s desire to take the brand’s advertising in a new direction.
The retailer plans to continue its relationship with the newspaper.
Tiffany did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. Still, the change has not escaped notice.
“It’s like a disturbance in The Force,” wrote former Times editor Quentin Hardy on Twitter.
The Page 3 Tiffany ad disappeared from the print New York Times. It’s like a disturbance in The Force.
— Quentin Hardy (@qhardy) March 3, 2021
Tiffany’s daily A3 ad placement dates back to 1896, the company has said: “[P]erhaps Tiffany & Co.’s most consistent relationship with the public over the last century is its daily advertisement on page A3 of the New York Times.”
The ads have inspired paintings and even a book, which noted that they often appear next to reports of grotesque tragedies, producing “humorous, tragic, tragicomic, ironic, or subversive” effects.
Just three years ago, the company used its ad to send a message to then-President Trump, urging him to remain in the Paris Climate Agreement, a move that spurred both praise and controversy.
WWD noted that the premium placement “was essentially at eye level as soon as readers turned the page from the paper’s cover.”
Steve McKee, cofounder of ad agency McKee Wallwork + Co., said the regular ad showed the power of brand accretion.
“[R]ain or shine, good times and bad—you can always find a Tiffany ad on page A3 of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal,” he wrote. “Tiffany’s small-space newspaper ads are almost as iconic as the now-famous blue box it introduced way back in 1837.”
(Photo: Getty)
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