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Because nothing revives a sagging industry like a heinous stunt, the Magazine Publishers of America is in the midst of a three-year campaign of wrapping certain titles in space-age covers, dated 100 years into the future. These special copies are then sent to "thousands of advertising and marketing leaders," who are then immediately convinced on the enduring relevancy of glossy listicles. Or, at the very least, they're convinced that the MPA has lost its self-marketing mind. A sampling of some of the cover lines:

• Automobile: Luna Rover LR23 Drives, Swims, Flies and Turns Invisible!
• The Economist: What the worlds are reading
• Elle: How He Feels About Your Face Transplant
• Elle Decor: Small Space Solutions Pods You ll Love
• Premiere: Our Greatest Actor Presidents? The Legacies of Ronald Reagan, Will Smith, and Dakota Fanning
• Popular Mechanics: How To Build This Particle Accelerator
• Woman s Day: Save Your Life! The Sugar & Fat Diet

After the jump, the full press release. And do check out the campaign's website; if you can think of a better way to waste $40 million over three years, we're listening.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.magazine.org
MAGAZINE INDUSTRY FUTURISTIC COVERS
WRAP UP 2005 WITH NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER ISSUES

Cover Lines from the Future:
Yes It s True: Films Were Once Projected Instead of Ingested
Motherhood Update: Why Some Women Are Still Carrying Their Own Babies

New York, NY (November 28, 2005) Seven of the nation s most popular magazines will be wrapped in futuristic covers dated up to 100 years in the future and delivered this November and December to thousands of advertisers and marketing leaders. The campaign featuring the provocative monthly magazines covers is part of a national advertising campaign launched February 28, which touts the enduring power of magazines to engage readers.

The futuristic covers, which are wrapped around the actual covers of complimentary magazines, suggest that the appeal of magazines to engage readers is so great that even decades into the future, magazines will continue to connect powerfully with consumers.

The new magazines taking part in the campaign include Automobile, The Economist, Elle, Elle D cor, Popular Mechanics, Premiere and Woman s Day. So far, 40 weekly, biweekly and monthly magazines have participated in the magazine industry s futuristic cover campaign.

The cover lines from the new set of futuristic covers continue to exhibit the same witty tone that has become the hallmark of this campaign. For instance:

Automobile: Luna Rover LR23 Drives, Swims, Flies and Turns Invisible!
The Economist: What the worlds are reading
Elle: How He Feels About Your Face Transplant
Elle Decor: Small Space Solutions Pods You ll Love
Premiere: Our Greatest Actor Presidents? The Legacies of Ronald Reagan, Will Smith, and Dakota Fanning
Popular Mechanics: How To Build This Particle Accelerator
Woman s Day: Save Your Life! The Sugar & Fat Diet

The $40 million, three-year, multimedia campaign produced by Fallon New York offers a two-tiered creative approach. The core campaign portrays consumers reading magazines in imagined futuristic scenes. The second component features magazine covers dated several decades into the future.

The campaign, whose tagline is Read On and which featured both print and online components, was supported by executives from magazine publishers and allied industries. Magazine editors and art directors worked to develop futuristic cover concepts for their respective publications.

The core campaign continues to run in advertising and trade media press, trade media websites and newsletters, national newspapers, and in MPA-member magazines.

A dedicated website (www.magazine.org/readon) showcases the growing gallery of core campaign creative and faux magazine covers. The Read On website will also serve as a portal for advertisers to access information that demonstrate magazines ability to deliver both engagement and accountability.

Magazine Publishers of America is the industry association for consumer magazines. Established in 1919, MPA represents more than 240 domestic publishing companies with approximately 1,400 titles, more than 80 international companies and more than 100 associate members. Staffed by magazine industry specialists, MPA is headquartered in New York City, with an office of government affairs in Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.magazine.org