'Dexter' gets Wired and starts Rolling

To market the upcoming third season of "Dexter," Showtime made a smart move by copying the covers of Wired, Rolling Stone, Esquire and The New Yorker and using those as templates to lure passerbyers and those who haven't yet hit the "Dexter" bug. It's made some news lately with some surprisingly mixed reactions.

As I made my rounds researching reactions to this marketing ploy, one blogger from the popular technology blog, TechCrunch, said the "Dexter" ad simply "rips off Wired". Really? I beg to differ.

We live in a branded society. If anything, the use of the Wired logo and style is a win-win situation. Hell, associating the show with hip, widely-read magazines that covers the gamut gives the illusion that "Dexter" is indeed a hot commodity. It doesn't mean it is, but as long as people think it is, it'll become one soon enough. The fact that so many people are talking about it should be an indication to its success.

Take a look and decide for yourselves: Did Showtime hit the big time with this ad campaign? Will you be watching when it comes back?