Article or advertisement

The article in FT (Financial Times), titled "Keeping up appearances" has caught my eye, because of its subtitle ("What to wear during recession?"). After reading the subtitle, I thought that it would be an interesting article, perhaps about how frugal one has to be with his or her money, when it comes to buying clothing during the recession. Surprisingly, it talked about keeping up with your tasteful habits, ignoring the risks of declining economy. In my mind almost encouraging people to go out and buy more fashionable clothing, because if you are “dressed for success” you will survive this “thing” and you will set an appropriate example to the ones around you (the article called it “your civic duty”. Needless to say, a question popped up in my head: “Is this an article (i.e. true journalism) or a settle ad for the clothing industry. I certainly think that there is a bit of true journalism in the article, but I believe that the major intent of the article is an advocacy (advertisement) for ones spending habits to be maintained or expending, hence helping the clothing industry maintain its sales. I would be interested to hear what you people think: true journalism or advertisement guised as journalism?

Alex