English Test Prep

October's Fake Ad

by Tim Athan

posted 11/7/2012

“I moved to Ann Arbor this summer and now I think I can finally call myself a resident—this is the first month I have spotted the Fake Ad!” wrote Kristin Labby. “It’s for English Test Prep on page 74.”

Labby is right on both counts. First, the ad for English Test Prep was the Fake Ad in October, with the last name of the previous winner, “Sukach,” hidden in the copy. Second, spotting the Fake Ad is the current test of official Ann Arbor residency.

That test has changed a lot over the years. In the eighties, for example, you had to have snorted cocaine off a waitress in the Nectarine Ballroom to qualify as a resident. And in the sixties you had to have been caught “in flagrante” in a South University storefront. We live in a more cerebral time. Hooray.

Labby was one of ninety-four clever Fake Adders who found last month’s elusive ad. “This was a tough one,” wrote Sonia Zawacki. “You’re getting a bit trickier. Took me four times through.” Our winner, Kathleen Kosobud, is taking her gift certificate to Seva.

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To enter this month’s contest, find the Fake Ad in the November issue and follow the instructions in the box at the bottom of the Back Page. The Fake Ad always contains the name of last month’s winner in some form.   

[Originally published in November, 2012.]