Advertising the Simpsons Movie DVD release, Metro Canada's English-language editions ran a special wrap-ad last week that included a separate front page and three page special.

The ad, called the Springfield Shopper, resembled an average local American newspaper and looked like the daily newspaper in the Simpsons' home town of Springfield.

Although the wrap-ad dominated the Dec. 18 edition of Metro Canada, and the free paper depends entirely on advertising, the paper's review of the film showed no favouritism. Reviewer Rick McGinnis gave the movie three out of five stars in the same edition, stating that although there were some “decent laughs,” he was not impressed by the movie.

“So, no moving too close to the advertiser in this case,” wrote Newspaper Innovation's Piet Bakker, an expect on free dailies.

The Springfield Shopper can be downloaded from metropoint.