Blogger In Other News caught this somewhat unfortunate screengrab on the New York Times website tonight of Apple's ad stars, John Hodgman and Justin Long, gazing lazily at a soon to be executed Missouri man.

The photo of Dennis J. Skillicorn ran with an article about Missouri's horrendous methods of carrying out executions and was bordered by an Apple ad featuring Long and Hodgman just sort of standing there like a couple of jerkoffs.

In a column published yesterday, the Times' David Carr said the following about advertising on the paper's website:

"For more than 100 years, Tiffany has occupied the upper-right corner of Page 3 of The New York Times. Until our digital model finds a way to create a similar kind of exalted placement, it will be tough to charge the kind of prices for advertising that reflect the cost of producing quality content."

This is purely a wild guess here, but we're doubting that this is an example of "exalted placement" on the Times' website, right?

Photo via [In Other News]
The Times and the Future [New York Times]
Executions Debated as Missouri Plans One [New York Times]