A fake copy of The Times was being handed out to commuters at subway stations in the city this morning. Updated, 11:20 p.m. | Sorry, folks, the paper isn’t free. And the Iraq war isn’t over, at least not yet.
In an elaborate hoax, pranksters distributed thousands of free copies of a spoof edition of The New York Times on Wednesday morning at busy subway stations around the city, including Grand Central Terminal, Washington and Union Squares, the 14th and 23rd Street stations along Eighth Avenue, and Pacific Street in Brooklyn, among others.
The spurious 14-page papers — with a headline “IRAQ WAR ENDS” — surprised commuters, many of whom took the free copies thinking they were legitimate.
The paper is dated July 4, 2009, and imagines a liberal utopia of national health care, a rebuilt economy, progressive taxation, a national oil fund to study climate change, and other goals of progressive politics.
The hoax was accompanied by a Web site that mimics the look of The Times’s real Web site. A page of the spoof site contained links to dozens of progressive organizations, which were also listed in the print edition.
(A headline in the fake business section declares: “Public Relations Industry Forecasts a Series of Massive Layoffs.” Uh, sure.)
The Associated Press reported that copies of the spoof paper were also handed out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, and that the pranksters — who included a film promoter, three unnamed Times employees and Steven Lambert, an art professor — financed the paper with small online contributions and created the paper to urge President-elect Barack Obama to keep his campaign promises.
According to The A.P., software and Internet support were provided by the Yes Men, who were the subject of a 2004 documentary film.
On Wednesday, the Yes Men issued a statement about the prank, stating, in part:
In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass them out on the street.
Catherine J. Mathis, a Times spokeswoman, said: “This is obviously a fake issue of The Times. We are in the process of finding out more about it.”
Alex S. Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a co-author of “The Trust,” a history of the family that controls The Times, said in a telephone interview that the paper should be flattered by the spoof.
“I would say if you’ve got one, hold on to it,” Mr. Jones, a former Times reporter, said of the fake issue. “It will probably be a collector’s item. I’m just glad someone thinks The New York Times print edition is worthy of an elaborate hoax. A Web spoof would have been infinitely easier. But creating a print newspaper and handing it out at subway stations? That takes a lot of effort.”
He added, “I consider this a gigantic compliment to The Times.”
There is a history of spoofs and parodies of The Times. Probably the best-known is one unveiled two months into the 1978 newspaper strike. A whole cast of characters took part in that parody, including the journalist Carl Bernstein, the author Christopher Cerf, the humorist Tony Hendra and the Paris Review editor George Plimpton.
And for April Fool’s Day in 1999, the British business executive Richard Branson printed 100,000 copies of a parody titled “I Can’t Believe It’s Not The New York Times.” A 27-year-old Princeton alumnus named Matthew Polly, operating a “guerrilla press” known as Hard Eight Publishing, edited that 32-page spoof of the newspaper.
From 1 to 25 of 136 Comments
That’s awesome, BUT, giving out a free version of the NY TIMES is a great idea. It’s been done by other papers in Asia to some great success.
Also, when are you going to start having commenters writing small personal essays in the Sunday sections? That will be awesome.
— DBCThis sounds like the work of those merry pranksters at “The Onion” !
— Steven C MitchellIf imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the NY Times should consider this a tribute to quality of their paper.
— GVThis was simply an amazing job! Congrats to the creators. Now everybody, let’s make it real.
— mikeSo sad this news can only be a spoof.
— KitYou didn’t seriously post a link to your own website so that people who are reading this on your website can go and see what it looks like, did you?
Very funny though, I wish i would have gotten one.
— ReasonSounds like it’s time to reinforce your investigative journalism team. (And I wish other papers would do likewise, instead of culling them due to limited resources!)
— Celeste Wiser MDI have no idea who did it, but it definitely wasn’t the Onion.
And it doesn’t “imagine a liberal utopia” — just something better than the conservative dystopia of the last eight years. Let’s not forget the role the NYT played in banging the drums for war. :)
— One of ThemAt the Union Square subway station on 15th street in
— Skipper Broadwaythe building known as Zeckendorff yesterday a NYT
with the headline “OBAMA” as on the day our new President
elect was announced was also being sold by a peddler.
I think perhaps that too was a fake.
Was handed my copy at 23rd S at 6th Ave in Manhattan.
— Roosevelt Island 360 (Eric)When I received one this morning I was surprised at first, and then I looked at the date: July 4, 2009 and knew it was a hoax.
— danielleAh well. It will be nice when it comes true and a very clever idea. Alot of times when you put an idea out in the open it has a chance to come true.
Wow, in this day and age, a story about a spoof without the word “sue” anywhere in the article. It really is the dawn of a new era.
And it shows that the Times deserves its reputation as “the paper of record.” Thank you!
http://www.boldizar.com
— BoldizarNo, the papers with the big OBAMA headlines are copies of the edition put out the day after Election Day, which all sold out immediately. At least, I think they are.
— BklynGirlI LOVED this paper - EVERY headline is what I hope to be reading soon!!!
— MichaelHere is a prediction: July 4, 2009 - Pranksters Sued for Willful Trademark and Copyright Violations
— LoganThere’s a video up now!
http://vimeo.com/2215007
— Tom PetersOther articles include:
“Maximum Wage Law Succeeds”
“Health Insurance Act Clears House”
“Nationalized Oil to Fund Climate Control Efforts”
“Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge”
United Nations Unanimously Passes Weapons Ban”
“All Public Universities to be Free”
and my favorite, “Bicycle Lanes Inaugurated”
The fake ads are really good too, including ones from Exxon, McDonald’s, and even a Dr. Z ad that you see on subways. Note…the only thing about Obama is an ad, no articles as this took a real long time to make.
— Ajthe prank aside, this will be a headline that all aemerica welcomes when it beocmes reality. the stepping back from A war footing is crucial to Americas reestablishment of its military, diplomatic and economic power in my opinion. so I look forward to the day when this fantasy becomes reality!
— NyrehdWhat a brilliant prank! It looks to me like those of those headlines are what the majority of Americans want. I’m all for it. Congrats whoever did it!
— NateUnfortunately, I think this was really in bad taste and not funny at all. It is one thing to do a spoof or a social commentary piece, but to put a headline saying the Iraq War has ended is just going too far in my opinion. People are dying over there - this is not something to “spoof.”
— bwI received my copy in Union Square- there is an ad from DeBeers promising the creation and fitting of a prosthetic limb to an African child for every diamond sold between now and 2026. If only it were true!
What a clever prank, bravo!
— EllieWhat is “progressive” about a “maximum wage law”? Was that an article about pro sports?
— Sy FieldWow! A NYTimes without frank rich or maureen dowd! Journalistic heaven.
— Sy FieldAnd furthermore… how much money did they spend putting this out? It would have been better spent buying mosquito nets to help prevent malaria in Africa. Will it stimulate meaningful discussion about the issues or just a discussion about how clever it was? If the latter, then I can’t see the justification for it…
— bwI realized something was up as soon as I grabbed one of these. There’s a full-page ad on the back for KBR http://www.kbr.com/
— Juli512