Buying an Ad to Defend, Rather Than Promote, a Movie

The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising - Mudslinging?: "It is not uncommon for large corporations to buy full-page newspaper ads to defend their reputations. For individuals to do so is rare, and for someone to do it in defense of a movie is practically unheard of. Yet that is just what Rob Schneider, the star of 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' did last Thursday when, in full-page ads in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, he responded to a front-page article in The Los Angeles Times written by Patrick Goldstein.

The article chastised Hollywood studios for their lack of investments in some Oscar-nominated movies, saying that the companies would rather "bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' " and declared that Mr. Schneider was "a third-rate comic." "