THE JONATHAN ZIZMORS.

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 07-JUL-03

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COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

Among the innovations with which patrons of the New York City subway system have recently been faced--rising fares, the puzzling and unsatisfying introduction of the V line--perhaps the most startling are the new advertisements for the dermatological services of Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, who has been promising relief from unsightly bumps and ashy skin to subterranean travellers since the early eighties. Gone is the scary before-and-after shot; instead, the new ad, which had its debut in May, features a nightscape of indeterminate skyscrapers and includes not just a photograph of the ageless Dr. Z but a picture showing a handsome woman in a big pale hat, and a slogan that reads, "Doctor and Mrs. Zizmor Salute New Yorkers for Their Strength and Courage."

Naturally, this raises two questions: Why are we being saluted now, twenty-one months after our peak of courageousness? But, first,...

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