Selective Quoting, or: "The...[o]ne" [that] I..."Want"

Daily News' Joe Dziemianowicz and other critics feel violated by the Grease team for performing some new-low alchemy on their scathing reviews. Apparently--in a print ad that has now been pulled but someone please send it to me if you have it--the mere words "You're the One that I Want" are pulled and plastered all over it, attributed to various seemingly enthusiastic critics.

The ad folks are, of course, unrepentant.

The $10,000 ad was created by theater ad agency Serino-Coyne, "Grease" producers and theater publicity agency Barlow-Hartman.

Serino-Coyne account executive Cara Christman says the phrase "the one that I want!" didn't necessarily come from a review. "We pull from both features and reviews," she says.

Dziemianowicz finds a more upstanding adman to agree this is a gross misrepresentation: "Quotes are always considered an endorsement from the publication and its theater critic." In other words--when you say "'Terrific!'- NYTimes" even when the word comes from a neutral blurb in the weekend guide, it's reasonable to assume the average reader thinks you mean Ben Brantley. (And thus Brantley has a right to take umbrage.) Let alone, when you pull from readers' web-comments...

Kudos, btw, to AP's Michael Kuchwara for getting AP to demand the removal of its name from the ad. As I said, it's history now.

Hat tip, Joshua.