Open and Shut Case

It was nearly a Mad Magazine moment.

Ever since newspapers started accepting advertising for their front pages it had to happen: the collision of a story and the ad. Or, at least the near collision.

Take today's WSJ front page picture with caption that shows what might be a naked man in a piece of unzippered rolly luggage. It's not part of a magician's act, although it does have to do with a wife trying to make her prisoner husband disappear from a Mexican prison after their conjugal visit.  If the escape attempt were successful there would probably be no picture, even though it involves a Mexican jail.

Since it certainly looks like a piece of luggage with wheels, we have to believe that attention was not drawn to the bag because she was having trouble lifting it past the guards.  Something else alerted them to check the contents. 

Perhaps it was a routine check to see what was inside.  After all, Home Depot looks inside garbage barrels going through the checkout for secreted unpaid items.  Perhaps her lingerie was inadvertently left behind and someone put some numbers together and came up "let's check that bag."  In Spanish.

Since the husband was already doing 20 years for weapons possession it is assumed some extra charges might now be added.  Certainly she'll be charged with husband possession of some kind.  A wife's nightmare.

You need no greater proof that the WSJ has changed than to take this picture in on its front page.  And there is no accompanying story. That's called something in newspaper parlance, but I don't know what it is.

But what's the Mad Magazine moment you might ask.  Well, it's nearly a MMM. Below the captioned picture is a 3" news story.  But immediately below that, and therefore just three inches below the escape attempt picture, is an ad in the lower right corner of the front page.  It's a financial-type ad, for iShares/BlackRock.  The ad shows a sea shore vista with the headline "And just like that, you're in Australia."

It's certainly a destination the couple would have settled for.

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