Industry news: Journal's edgy ads

Web Desk staffers picked up the latest Vanity Fair at the good old Hudson News as we were leaving Las Vegas. Guess what? Some really nice print ads in there for another journalism product, a daily one even. The Wall Street Journal has a great new campaign touting the paper, featuring such celebs as Sheryl Crow and Oscar de la Hoya. It's smart stuff and incredibly well done, celebrating both the paper itself ("Every journey needs a Journal") and the idea of how a news product can be a vital part of a life, any life.

The New York Times wrote about this phenom recently, too. And their story says the ad campaign started on Feb. 1: "The main objective of the campaign is to show a broad group of people who read The Journal and a diverse array of content,” said Ann Marks, chief operating officer at Dow Jones & Company, which publishes The Journal.

Count the Web Desk among fans of this impressive effort.