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September 25, 2015

Lloyd Embley throws down the gauntlet to prove Mirror is an ‘intelligent tabloid’ in ‘seven-figure’ ad campaign

By William Turvill

The Mirror has launched a "seven-figure", four-month advertising campaign challenging the view it is not an "intelligent tabloid".

The newspaper group's own journalists appear in adverts, with senior staff reading out "mean tweets" about its claim to be intelligent.

Editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley also features in an advert in which he says he is "throwing down the gauntlet… to see if you doubters can prove us stupid" (video below).

A press release said: "The following weeks will feature the public trying their hand at answering questions from that week’s Mirror to see whether they are as ‘intelligent’ as the tabloid they criticise. This means the newsbrand and its creative agency will need to turn around the ads reactively during the week.

"There will also be opportunities for viewers to participate online, culminating in a chance to take on the Mirror’s editorial team live in the last week of the campaign."

The ad campaign will be carried across television – starting during the X Factor this weekend – and online, in print and on the radio.

The Mirror began calling itself the "intelligent tabloid" in 2013, using the hashtag "#madeuthink".

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