Daily Express marks Barack Obama's first day ... with a wraparound car ad

The Daily Express today ran a wraparound cover advert, obscuring its front page of Barack Obama's inauguration as US president with a promotion for the Fiat 500 car.

While newspapers across the globe pulled out all the stops with front pages dedicated to coverage of the Obama inauguration, the Express Newspapers' title chose to wrap its coverage of the event with a four-page advertising feature celebrating the first birthday of the Fiat 500.

Under the advert, the front-page proper of the Daily Express covered the inauguration with the headline; "Hope is reborn". On the wraparound advertorial, which is in the form of a Daily Express front page, above a full page picture of the Fiat 500, is a small box stating "THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEWSPAPER – INSIDE" beside a picture of the "Hope is reborn" splash.

The Daily Express is believed to be one of the first UK national paid-for daily newspaper titles to run an advertorial wrapped around its main news section – although in 1996 the Daily Mirror's masthead turned from red to blue for a day in a deal with Pepsi.

However, the Express's deal seems particularly unusual given the momentous events in Washington yesterday.


In a reference to the inauguration of Obama, the cover of the wraparound advert shows a grey Fiat 500 scooting through a blurred cityscape with the caption "It's a big day for firsts". Inside the ad wishes the car a happy first birthday.

The Observer
25th January