The Daily Mirror sold its entire front-page today in what is thought to be a first for the UK's third best selling daily newspaper.
The four-page wrap-around advert was sold to the Halifax bank to promote its current accounts. Inside, the real front page was a follow-up of yesterday's Mail on Sunday story revealing that the former chairman of the Co-op bank Paul Flowers had been filmed buying cocaine.
It is highly unusual for UK paid-for national newspapers to carry wrap-around front-page adverts, but not unprecedented. Last month the Daily Telegraph sold a cover-wrap advert to Lloyds Bank. In 2009 the Daily Express used its front page to promote the launch of the Fiat 500 (on the same day that all other titles were carrying news of Barack Obama's election as US president).
The Daily Mirror has been out-performing its red-top rival The Sun over the last year in terms of circulation decline. In October sales of the Daily Mirror fell by 4.7 per cent to just over one million a day on average. Sales of The Sun fell by 9.8 per cent to 2.2m a day.
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