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Declaring War on The New York Times

Smart or Dumb?

March 2007 By Denny Hatch
14

In the News

Restaurateur Bites Critic
The food fight between Frank Bruni and Jeffrey Chodorow.
“Hooray for Bruni! He’s made it!” Those were my first thoughts last Wednesday morning when I read Jeffrey Chodorow’s ranting advertisement in the New York Times Dining section. Objecting to Frank Bruni’s no-star review of his new restaurant, Kobe Club, that ran in the previous week’s paper, Chodorow yelped like a stuck pig, questioning Bruni’s credentials as a food critic (something he never would have done had the review been favorable), and even his integrity by claiming the review was “a personal attack.”
—Mimi Sheraton, Slate.com, Feb. 23, 2007
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one,” wrote A.J. Leibling, the late, great New Yorker journalist.

Not so.

If you want to pony up $30,000 to $80,000, you can buy a full-page ad in The New York Times and write a long letter that says pretty much anything you like.

Last Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, three such letters appeared:

1. From aggrieved restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, whose new steak house was dissed by The New York Times food critic, Frank Bruni.

2. From JetBlue founder and CEO, David Neeleman, apologizing for the mess he made in dealing with the ice storm the week prior.

3. From Douglas Durst and Anthony E. Malkin of the Continuing Committee for a Reasonable World Trade Center on a forthcoming Port Authority vote.

All three writers made serious errors.

I just hate it when people spend a lot of money to communicate and then do it badly.

Restaurant Critics
I have had several spiffy lunches in top New York City eateries as the guest of iconic restaurant critic, Mimi Sheraton, whom I adored.

This was in the late 1980s. I had a newsletter about junk mail, WHO’S MAILING WHAT!, and Sheraton had a newsletter about food. I forget who introduced us, but every now and again she liked to pick my brain about the newsletter nitty-gritty—customer acquisition, offers, renewals and the like, and so would invite me to lunch.

Sheraton did not like to dine alone, and she is very, very good company. Buy me a nice lunch and you can ask me anything.

One time she called and told me to make a reservation in my name for the upstairs room at “21.” A Time profile of Sheraton explained that she consumes all meals incognito. “Sheraton refuses to pose full-face for the camera, to make it harder for restaurateurs to identify her and proffer extraordinary service.”

I arrived at “21” a few minutes early and confirmed my reservation. Sheraton arrived and we were led upstairs to our table where one of the owners and the head chef greeted us.

So much for incognito, but hey, the folks at “21” took very good care of us!

The Kobe Club Kerfuffle
One of the three open letters in the Times last Wednesday was from Jeffrey Chodorow, a restaurant entrepreneur, who late last year opened an upmarket Japanese steak house on West 58th Street in Manhattan, Kobe Club.

Takeaway Points to Consider:

* Before spending big bucks for an open letter in the newspaper, think through exactly what you hope to accomplish and what the collateral damage may be.

* “A letter should look and feel like a letter.”
—Dick Benson

* This is true for something that goes through the mail or appears online or as a full-page in a broadsheet newspaper.

* Use a letterhead with your logo, address, phone number and e-mail. After all, when you send a letter in the mail, you expect a response.

* Never spend money for a letter that has no information on how to reach you.

* Wide margins, serif type that is easy to read or—if you really want the look and feel of a personal letter—use Courier.

* Make it easy on the eye—14- or 16-point type.

* Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs.

* “Don’t overlook the size and vitality of your signature; they’re your handshake.”
—Malcolm Decker

* “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.”
—Mark Twain

Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:

Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/yo3xjp

Jeffrey Chodorow’s Blog
http://tinyurl.com/2yn554

Chodorow’s Full-Page Ad in The New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/23fgu6

Court Document on Chodorow’s Felony
http://tinyurl.com/2zghsn

Apology of JetBlue’s CEO, David Neeleman
http://tinyurl.com/2hd28u

Frank Bruni’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/244d2f

Gael Greene’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/2x533r

Bob Lape’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/29tyq5

John Mariani’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/24tujk

Restaurant Girl’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/2fh24w

Adam Platt’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/yol8d5

Steve Cuozzo’s Review of Kobe Club
http://tinyurl.com/ytvamb
 

Companies Mentioned:
14

COMMENTS

Click here to leave a comment...
Comment *
Most Recent Comments:
Wash Phillips - Posted on March 01, 2007
Right on re: Mr. Chodorow's venting (no) and a more effective use of the money in well-placed ads containing favorable reviews (yes).

Chodorow should have been content with positive critic responsies as they accrue. Even on the best day, there's no accounting for personal taste, especially for critics.

But what the heck is that mention of felony convictions all about? Frankly, it's incidental and beneath the high level of discussion usually found at your welcome site.
John Friesen - Posted on March 01, 2007
As usual, you make excellent points, but...

When I open your column in my browser I see small, sans serif type spread across at least 10-inches of screen.

I, like Mr. Rosen, am no longer convinced about the response-superiority of Courier or Times Roman over fonts like Verdana. I do see your point, though, about using serif in a letter and sans in a brochure. Has that been tested?

John
Steve Maggio - Posted on March 01, 2007
As founder of a new direct response agency, who came up through the
ranks as a copywriter, I find your "Common Sense" uncommonly good.
This one on declaring war on the Times made me laugh. You are always
spot-on and I love the takeaway points and links.
Max Bendel - Posted on March 01, 2007
Tongue firmly placed in cheek, I think Jeffrey Chodorow should have written a much longer first paragraph. It is only 280 plus words long.
David Garfinkel - Posted on March 01, 2007
Yesterday I was explaining to my brother, who is in an entertainment industry other than restauranting, what kind of ads work. He wasn't buying. He was quite certain that looking "cool" (i.e., making a stylized expression of the business's ego, like, when you think about it, what Chodorow was doing with his pseudo-sophisticated rant) brings more business than an appealing sales pitch. ("not in our business" -- gosh, I've never heard THAT objection before). Curious p.s. for you -- When I read the ad you suggested, with the testimonials, I actually started wanting to go to the restaurant, bad clams, rubbery pork chops and all! But as the adventure glands settled down, I decided to use the $500 for something else.
David N. Rosen - Posted on March 01, 2007
Excellent commentary and advice (as usual), Denny. I'm not sure about how universal the applicability of Courier may be, though. Serif being better than non-serif has been a direct mail rule of thumb for a while, but I suspect the age of the reader may have a lot to do with it at this point. The font styles commonly used on the internet might also be having an effect as far as what works best with readers. For younger consumers who have grown up with computers and video games, Verdana or Tahoma may seem normal. Other than that . . . "Errant clam" is priceless. Great title for a food criticism blog....or rock band. And "Bad Clams Happen" should appear as a warning sign in seafood places, next to those Heimlich Maneuver posters.
Denny Hatch - Posted on March 01, 2007
To Carl: Thanx for writing. Gotta disagree. This week?s New Yorker ran a long piece on this brouhaha in the Talk of the Town section. From Lauren Collins?s column: ?Chodorow was writing in a time-honored tradition, the literary equivalent of sending black roses. At least since Zola?s ?J?Accuse,? public figures have turned to the open letter for the promotion of pet causes and the airing of grievances. And so?in just the past year, in the Times?Yoko Ono pleads for healing on the anniversary of John Lennon?s death, the Humane Society of the United States announces a boycott of Canadian seafood, a Kuwaiti contracting conglomerate protests President Bush?s policy in Lebanon (?Who deserves to be accused of being a fascist!!!!?), and the Kazakh government sponsors a spread to encourage ?Transforming the mixed blessings of a nuclear legacy.? Chodorow composed his epistle en route to Italy. ?I borrowed one of my people?s computers," he said, "and I just basically wrote it stream-of-consciousness.? . . . Craig Whitney, the Times? standards editor, said that the paper was glad to accept Chodorow?s letter. 'If advertisements are not defamatory or libelous, and they meet our standards of taste, we run them,' he said. It took about five drafts, according to Chodorow, to come to a mutually acceptable version of the letter?'They beat me up a lot over it,' he said, but explained that the Times conceded on most points after he threatened to publish the piece in the Post."
Al Stanton - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny:
The last quote by Mark Twain in today's "Business Common Sense" is a hoot! It applies to a lot of other commodities (not only ink) when you consider "picking a fight."

Being from "Mark Twain Country" here in Elmira, NY, we enjoy re-living his wit and insight in print (or pixels).

Good advice, as usual. Thanks.
Denny Hatch - Posted on March 01, 2007
To Rick: Here?s the logic for using a Courier font in a letter.
Information is processed in two ways (1) rationally and analytically (left-brain people) and (2) emotionally and irrationally (right-brain people). In a direct mail package, the letter is traditionally the emotional, benefit-oriented message that tells why the product or service benefits you, the reader or prospect. This is the "you" copy and, in the words of freelancer Mal Decker, the main salesperson in the sales team that makes up a direct mail package. The brochure is the demonstrator, a second member of the team that sits nearby using "it" copy that shows and describes "it--the product or service. The demonstrator uses photos, drawings, charts, graphs, picture captions to make this thing seem very read and that it exists (even though it might not if the mailing is a dry test). The demonstrator says, "See, everything the salesperson in the letter said is true." When your mailing arrives in the home or office, once the envelope is opened you have no control over which piece the prospect reads first. Right-brain people that want to make an emotional connection with the writer will go for the letter. Left-brainers that want to "see" and "feel" the product will go for the brochure. If both elements are printed in the same typeface--Times, for example--it is not immediately obvious which is which. So using Courier for the letter and Times for the brochure makes it easy to distinguish the different pieces. For the record, I always go for the order form first, because I want to see the deal. And when I write copy, I start with order form so I have the product and the deal in my head and can take off from there. This was a technique I learned from the late, great Chris Stagg. Thanx again for writing. Cheers.
Nancy Solomon - Posted on March 01, 2007
I simply adore you and LOVE ready your e-newsletter - even on those few occasions when I don't totally agree with you. I either learn something new or am confirmed in something I knew. Keep 'em coming, baby cakes.
Rick Ritter - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny, I once tested a Courier vs. Times Roman typeface in a letter. I didn't see a difference in response. However, I do notice a lot of letters still in Courier, so there has to be some reason for it. I thought your point on larger type face is excellent. It's a shame to have all that great letter copy go to waste if no one is going to read it.
Carl Street - Posted on March 01, 2007
Hi Denny,

Regretfully, I am going to have to take issue with your statement:

"If you want to pony up $30,000 to $80,000, you can buy a full-page ad in The New York Times and write a long letter that says pretty much anything you like."

The fact is the media is historically reticent about printing/broadcasting advertising that runs counter to their editorial philosophy. Mind you I am NOT speaking of pornography, advocacy of violence; merely contrary viewpoints. And of all the media the NYT is among the greatest offenders. A simple Google search on this topic will bear me out. Perhaps, at one time your statment may have had an element of truth; but now in an era of media conglomerates those days, if they ever existed, have passed into history and the "Free Press" has become just another American Urban Myth. Mores the pity...

Carl Street
carl_street@cjstreet.com
larry weeks - Posted on March 01, 2007
" Denny, Enjoyed the column on poorly thought out ads. If you want to
> see someone who killed their career with one, poorly thought out blog,
> look up Jim Zumbo, a formerly respected gun writer. He put down one
> type of firearm, a very popular one, and invoked, "If we don't hang
> together, we will all hang separately" responses from more than 2000
> irrate readers, lost every one of his corporate sponsors, was allowed
> to resign from the magazine he had written for for years and is
> generally now the most hated man in the gun industry. A 40 year career
> in the dumpster in 3 days. "
john - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny, I get maybe 20 newsletters each day... yours is the only one I read every word of... I asked myself, "why?"

Your's isn't just marketing lessons, its how to think about life.

Thanks!

John
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
Wash Phillips - Posted on March 01, 2007
Right on re: Mr. Chodorow's venting (no) and a more effective use of the money in well-placed ads containing favorable reviews (yes).

Chodorow should have been content with positive critic responsies as they accrue. Even on the best day, there's no accounting for personal taste, especially for critics.

But what the heck is that mention of felony convictions all about? Frankly, it's incidental and beneath the high level of discussion usually found at your welcome site.
John Friesen - Posted on March 01, 2007
As usual, you make excellent points, but...

When I open your column in my browser I see small, sans serif type spread across at least 10-inches of screen.

I, like Mr. Rosen, am no longer convinced about the response-superiority of Courier or Times Roman over fonts like Verdana. I do see your point, though, about using serif in a letter and sans in a brochure. Has that been tested?

John
Steve Maggio - Posted on March 01, 2007
As founder of a new direct response agency, who came up through the
ranks as a copywriter, I find your "Common Sense" uncommonly good.
This one on declaring war on the Times made me laugh. You are always
spot-on and I love the takeaway points and links.
Max Bendel - Posted on March 01, 2007
Tongue firmly placed in cheek, I think Jeffrey Chodorow should have written a much longer first paragraph. It is only 280 plus words long.
David Garfinkel - Posted on March 01, 2007
Yesterday I was explaining to my brother, who is in an entertainment industry other than restauranting, what kind of ads work. He wasn't buying. He was quite certain that looking "cool" (i.e., making a stylized expression of the business's ego, like, when you think about it, what Chodorow was doing with his pseudo-sophisticated rant) brings more business than an appealing sales pitch. ("not in our business" -- gosh, I've never heard THAT objection before). Curious p.s. for you -- When I read the ad you suggested, with the testimonials, I actually started wanting to go to the restaurant, bad clams, rubbery pork chops and all! But as the adventure glands settled down, I decided to use the $500 for something else.
David N. Rosen - Posted on March 01, 2007
Excellent commentary and advice (as usual), Denny. I'm not sure about how universal the applicability of Courier may be, though. Serif being better than non-serif has been a direct mail rule of thumb for a while, but I suspect the age of the reader may have a lot to do with it at this point. The font styles commonly used on the internet might also be having an effect as far as what works best with readers. For younger consumers who have grown up with computers and video games, Verdana or Tahoma may seem normal. Other than that . . . "Errant clam" is priceless. Great title for a food criticism blog....or rock band. And "Bad Clams Happen" should appear as a warning sign in seafood places, next to those Heimlich Maneuver posters.
Denny Hatch - Posted on March 01, 2007
To Carl: Thanx for writing. Gotta disagree. This week?s New Yorker ran a long piece on this brouhaha in the Talk of the Town section. From Lauren Collins?s column: ?Chodorow was writing in a time-honored tradition, the literary equivalent of sending black roses. At least since Zola?s ?J?Accuse,? public figures have turned to the open letter for the promotion of pet causes and the airing of grievances. And so?in just the past year, in the Times?Yoko Ono pleads for healing on the anniversary of John Lennon?s death, the Humane Society of the United States announces a boycott of Canadian seafood, a Kuwaiti contracting conglomerate protests President Bush?s policy in Lebanon (?Who deserves to be accused of being a fascist!!!!?), and the Kazakh government sponsors a spread to encourage ?Transforming the mixed blessings of a nuclear legacy.? Chodorow composed his epistle en route to Italy. ?I borrowed one of my people?s computers," he said, "and I just basically wrote it stream-of-consciousness.? . . . Craig Whitney, the Times? standards editor, said that the paper was glad to accept Chodorow?s letter. 'If advertisements are not defamatory or libelous, and they meet our standards of taste, we run them,' he said. It took about five drafts, according to Chodorow, to come to a mutually acceptable version of the letter?'They beat me up a lot over it,' he said, but explained that the Times conceded on most points after he threatened to publish the piece in the Post."
Al Stanton - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny:
The last quote by Mark Twain in today's "Business Common Sense" is a hoot! It applies to a lot of other commodities (not only ink) when you consider "picking a fight."

Being from "Mark Twain Country" here in Elmira, NY, we enjoy re-living his wit and insight in print (or pixels).

Good advice, as usual. Thanks.
Denny Hatch - Posted on March 01, 2007
To Rick: Here?s the logic for using a Courier font in a letter.
Information is processed in two ways (1) rationally and analytically (left-brain people) and (2) emotionally and irrationally (right-brain people). In a direct mail package, the letter is traditionally the emotional, benefit-oriented message that tells why the product or service benefits you, the reader or prospect. This is the "you" copy and, in the words of freelancer Mal Decker, the main salesperson in the sales team that makes up a direct mail package. The brochure is the demonstrator, a second member of the team that sits nearby using "it" copy that shows and describes "it--the product or service. The demonstrator uses photos, drawings, charts, graphs, picture captions to make this thing seem very read and that it exists (even though it might not if the mailing is a dry test). The demonstrator says, "See, everything the salesperson in the letter said is true." When your mailing arrives in the home or office, once the envelope is opened you have no control over which piece the prospect reads first. Right-brain people that want to make an emotional connection with the writer will go for the letter. Left-brainers that want to "see" and "feel" the product will go for the brochure. If both elements are printed in the same typeface--Times, for example--it is not immediately obvious which is which. So using Courier for the letter and Times for the brochure makes it easy to distinguish the different pieces. For the record, I always go for the order form first, because I want to see the deal. And when I write copy, I start with order form so I have the product and the deal in my head and can take off from there. This was a technique I learned from the late, great Chris Stagg. Thanx again for writing. Cheers.
Nancy Solomon - Posted on March 01, 2007
I simply adore you and LOVE ready your e-newsletter - even on those few occasions when I don't totally agree with you. I either learn something new or am confirmed in something I knew. Keep 'em coming, baby cakes.
Rick Ritter - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny, I once tested a Courier vs. Times Roman typeface in a letter. I didn't see a difference in response. However, I do notice a lot of letters still in Courier, so there has to be some reason for it. I thought your point on larger type face is excellent. It's a shame to have all that great letter copy go to waste if no one is going to read it.
Carl Street - Posted on March 01, 2007
Hi Denny,

Regretfully, I am going to have to take issue with your statement:

"If you want to pony up $30,000 to $80,000, you can buy a full-page ad in The New York Times and write a long letter that says pretty much anything you like."

The fact is the media is historically reticent about printing/broadcasting advertising that runs counter to their editorial philosophy. Mind you I am NOT speaking of pornography, advocacy of violence; merely contrary viewpoints. And of all the media the NYT is among the greatest offenders. A simple Google search on this topic will bear me out. Perhaps, at one time your statment may have had an element of truth; but now in an era of media conglomerates those days, if they ever existed, have passed into history and the "Free Press" has become just another American Urban Myth. Mores the pity...

Carl Street
carl_street@cjstreet.com
larry weeks - Posted on March 01, 2007
" Denny, Enjoyed the column on poorly thought out ads. If you want to
> see someone who killed their career with one, poorly thought out blog,
> look up Jim Zumbo, a formerly respected gun writer. He put down one
> type of firearm, a very popular one, and invoked, "If we don't hang
> together, we will all hang separately" responses from more than 2000
> irrate readers, lost every one of his corporate sponsors, was allowed
> to resign from the magazine he had written for for years and is
> generally now the most hated man in the gun industry. A 40 year career
> in the dumpster in 3 days. "
john - Posted on March 01, 2007
Denny, I get maybe 20 newsletters each day... yours is the only one I read every word of... I asked myself, "why?"

Your's isn't just marketing lessons, its how to think about life.

Thanks!

John