Not Only is The New Yorker a Great Magazine, But the Small Ads are Entertaining as Well

Does Ad Content Say Bad Things About Us?

Even with the advent of the Internet there are still things that must be enjoyed offline.  One of these is the print edition of The New Yorker magazine.  Yes it is available in an on-line edition but nothing can replace the artistry of the issue itself.

The advertising in the magazine contains the usual full and half page ads for cars and various luxury goods (poor people don’t read this magazine) and they are boring enough except for the ad for the new Mercedes 2013 Sl.  But the magazine also has many postage stamp sized ads which are almost as entertaining to read as the articles, the fiction and the reviews. No they are not as entertaining as the cartoons, nothing compares to them.

 Here is just a sample from the latest publication.

National Geographic has a tourist trip to Antarctica.  You can hike and kayak.  Presumably in the summer (which is the winter here). But apparently no casinos, what were they thinking?

Firestone and Parson has an ad hawking ‘Fine Estate Jewelry’.  In layman’s terms this is used jewelry, the kind The Dismal Political Economist get for presents at the local pawn shop.

Pennswood Village, a Quaker retirement community has an ad with a man about 122 years old playing the flute and exclaiming that he has never been happier.  We are not sure if this is about the flute or just being alive.

Tamarack Farm is promoting an organic farm camp for teens 15 to 17. and there is picture of a happy teen in the ad.  We think it is a stock photo.  Just try and send your 15 to 17 year old to organic farm camp.

McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts (really Boston) is pushing their ‘unparalleled psychiatric evaluation and treatment’ and notes that they are affiliated with the Harvard Medical School.  What that means is probably they pay Harvard some money in order to put the term ‘affiliated with the Harvard Medical School’ in their literature.  Belmont is the home of Mitt Romney, but we will leave the obvious smart aleck commentary about psychiatric treatment to others.

On the same page is an ad for The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt which boasts that they treat all psychiatric conditions’ in an ‘elegantly appointed environment’.  Final proof that New Yorker readers are both crazy and rich.

The Oxford University Press is hawking a book “Fairness and Freedom” which claims to be a history of two open societies, the U. S. and New Zealand.  We have never really knew the connection between these two countries, so maybe the book is worth reading.  We will put it on our list.

The Second Chance for Teens is a ‘therapeutic boarding school in the Catskills’ or in other words a place to ship out your troublesome teen.

Hitchcock Shoes says they specialize in men’s shoes in widths EEE to EEEEEE, sizes 5 to 20.  The Dismal Political Economist has never seen a size EEEEEE foot, he is certain it is something he would remember.

Finally, Bonhams Auctions brags about their sale of a Velazquez for $4.617 million.  Results for your print of Elvis on velvet and the poker playing dogs may be different.