8716: The New Adweek Seems Ad Weak.

Back in 2008, MultiCultClassics wrote an obituary for Marketing y Medios, an Adweek sister publication focused on Latino marketing. Its ultimate death was actually preceded by a 2006 corporate decision to fold the cultural content into various White titles from the publishing portfolio of VNU (later renamed Nielsen Company). The Nielsen Company then sold the magazines to e5 Global Media, which changed its name to Prometheus. Now Prometheus has eliminated White publications Brandweek and Mediaweek, merging everything under the Adweek masthead. Set your watches to mark the inevitable croaking of the franchise.

Others have already posted insightful perspectives on the state of affairs at Adweek. So MultiCultClassics will simply examine the new site launched on Monday.

Adweek—The Voice of Media—kicked off with headline stories on the advertising industry. But by the end of the day, the items that rose to the top of the home page included a poll on the struggles of paywallers, a piece on the Pulitzer Prize and an interview with returning IAB leader Randall Rothenberg. In recent years, Adweek has been shedding its traditional reporters, editors and columnists. And in recent weeks, the content has seemingly abandoned Madison Avenue, presenting groundbreaking tidbits including the closing of the Condé Nast cafeteria and the ill-timed demise of Elizabeth Taylor. Anyone still foolish enough to hold a paid subscription must be asking what the hell is going on. Even the header menu positions Advertising & Marketing after The Press, Television and Technology links.

Sure, one could argue that the industry has changed and fragmented, inspiring a different direction for the iconic publication. Yet at the moment, the only ad-centric component is Adfreak. Ironically, Adweek is now a bigger “ad freak” than the irreverent sister blog.

Editorial Director Michael Wolff proclaimed the rejiggered Adweek is “not your father’s trade magazine.” Unintended nod to the industry’s exclusively male makeup aside, the site is designed in the style of a print magazine versus a Web source. The large-type headers and intros are clumsy, and having to click through over 3 pages to peruse a story is cumbersome. Mirroring the majority of advertising agencies, Adweek appears to be clueless about creating in the digital space.

News from Our Partners features newser, The Week, salon.com and BuzzFeed, and the site footer lists affiliates Billboard, Back Stage and The Hollywood Reporter. Geez, it’s as if Don Draper were suddenly hanging out with Mick Jagger, Julie Andrews and John Wayne.

To be fair, Wolff sounds sincere in his efforts, reminiscing about his adman father. But while family ties can get you into the ad game, you must ultimately prove yourself worthy of sticking around. Then again, that’s not true, based on the countless talentless offspring infesting shops nationwide. Let’s hope Wolff doesn’t fall into that category.

At the same time, one can’t help but wonder if Wolff possesses the key quality for success in this endeavor: a love for advertising. If so, the man deserves an opportunity to show his skills. If not, somebody should shut down Adweek like the Condé Nast cafeteria and declare it dead like a certain violet-eyed movie star.