Advertising is a billion dollar industry in the U.S. - and is an industry that seems to get more creative by the day. This morning, an ad was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and on the newspaper's Web site advertising Derrie-Air, "the world's only carbon-neutral luxury airline" that charges passengers by their weight. As the company's policy states: the more you weigh, the more you pay. It turns out that this was all a hoax, and was simply a test by the Philadelphia Media Holdings company to see what kind of traffic they could drive to www.flyderrie-air.com.

Philadelphia Media Holdings spokesman Jay Devine said the goal of the campaign was to "demonstrate the power of our brands in generating awareness and generating traffic for our advertisers, and put a smile on people's faces."

This is certainly one way to get people's attention - but I have to wonder - did it work? Yes - I'm sure it put a smile on a lot of people's faces when they realized it was a joke. However, the interesting thing about this advertising tactic is the media coverage it has received so far, and continues to receive. The ad ran this morning, and already, the Associated Press has written an article linking to the fictitious site. So, when the Philadelphia Media Holdings company goes to prove to their advertisers the "power of their brands," aren't they really going to be proving the power of PR? Clearly, a lot of money, time and effort went into the making of this campaign, but how are they going to factor in the traffic and awareness that the media coverage generated for them? I would venture to guess that a good portion of the visitors that come to the Derrie-Air site are from other states, even other countries. I'm sure that Philadelphia Media Holdings will attempt to prove to their advertisers that they are the best way to get in front of their desired audience. But in the end - it goes to show the power of good old-fashioned media coverage.