In the midst of a raging blogosphere debate regarding the wisdom and worth of TOMS “One Day Without Shoes” campaign, I noticed this odd juxtaposition of news and advertising at The Guardian:
TOMS Shoes advertising is literally wrapped around a column by Rick Rowden arguing that “It’s Time for a New Development Model.” Says Rowden:
Short-term poverty reduction has become a stand-in for actual long-term development. This has to change to enable poor countries to get off the aid bandwagon.
Here’s the ad by TOMS Shoes, as long as it lasts online anyway, and the column arguing against, uh, pretty much the kind of short-term, ineffective fixes that many say TOMS Shoes represents:
It’s not unique to The Guardian, I guess. Tom Murphy at A View From the Cave wrote about the shoe flap for Huffington Post, which also has banner TOMS Shoes ads at the top.
