Next to Target and Macy’s, the most prominent advertiser in local daily newspapers might be Universal Media Syndicate.

Who?

If you’ve been transfixed by the wintertime tale of the Amish craftsman shaking a businessman’s hand over “new miracle heater,” you’ve seen a UMS ad. A couple of weeks ago after a heat wave, UMS bought a Star Tribune full page to pitch “free air cooling units” that use “95 percent less electricity to blast out cold air with no windows, no vents and no Freon.”

The next day, more good news in the Strib: “New state coins go to the public free.”

Although there’s a small “advertising” disclaimer atop the ads, UMS mocks them up like newspaper stories, replete with quotes, photos, and captions.

The fake stories have inspired real ones.

In February 2009, the New York Times did something of an ode to the “Amish fireplaces” ad campaign.

Other media outlets have been flatly critical of UMS’ Ohio-based parent, Arthur Middleton Capital Holdings, which does business as several companies, including Fridge Electric, LLC and a coin dealer, Universal Syndication. Among Middleton’s products: the “Universal Health Card,” which promises discounts at thousands of health providers, and “Apatrim,” a weight-loss supplement.

The Star Tribune's Mira-Cool ad

For two years, a St. Paul blogger known as “Daughter Number Three” has tracked — and mocked — UMS ads and Middleton products. She asked that her real name not be used; she’s received a cease-and-desist letter from a company lawyer.

The legal threat caused her to tweak a few of her still-caustic views about the effectiveness and value of the company’s products.

"They just drive me crazy," she says of the ad campaigns. "I'm sure they're not violating the letter of the law. But the 'advertorial' — the fake story, how they designed the ad — just struck me."

A chilling review
Just when media outlets are scrambling for every penny, and “acai berry” ads bump up against the most legitimate web journalism, it's almost cruel to question a newspaper’s revenue source. But mainstream outlets also tout their journalistic reputations and even, in some cases, their ad standards.

Consider that cold-blasting air cooler, marketed as the "Mira-Cool."

Last summer, Consumer Reports rated a similar Middleton model — the “Cool Surge” also advertised in the Strib — a “Don’t Buy.”

CR noted the Cool Surge is an “evaporative cooler.” Folks in dry climes know it as “swamp cooler” — which the magazine says only really cools during low humidity.

Not exactly Minnesota Nice.

When CR tested the Mira-Cool in non-soupy conditions — 85 degrees and 25 percent humidity, a.k.a. a nice Minnesota day — room temperatures dropped at most 2 degrees. Here's their video review:

A call to the Mira-Cool 800 number reveals that the “free” unit costs $396. You must first buy a $298 model, then pay $98 more to have it and the “free” unit shipped.

Anyone who bought sea monkeys from the back of a kid’s comic book knows advertising claims can be overblown. But Middleton’s willingness to push buyer-beware boundaries can be seen by looking at a similar ad in a steamier state.

In South Carolina, UMS advertised the Mira-Cool as a “miracle air conditioner.” According to Columbia, S.C. station WTLX-TV, that earned condemnation from the state Department of Consumer Affairs.

Either our papers have higher standards or UMS regards Minnesotans as savvier: the Strib ad merely refers to the product as an “air cooler.”

A Middleton official, David Baker, admits his company does not make an air conditioner. He says the Minnesota ad is clear the Mira-Cool is not one.

Asked about Consumer Reports’ thumbs-down, Baker contends the Mira-Cool is an upgrade over the Cool Surge, with a "much stronger blower" and a "better air path."

Still, he acknowledges the Mira-Cool uses the same swamp cooler technology.

The product does save electricity over an air conditioner — but so does a fan. Baker argues that the Mira-Cool is worth the extra money because is houses a water reservoir and two removable ice packs close to the blowing unit.

That hasn’t stopped the Better Business Bureau from slapping a “D-plus” rating on the Middleton company responsible for the device.

Such bad notices are likely overwhelmed by Middleton’s advertising reach. While the company advertises on TV, its print ads appear in 750 newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times and USA Today.

Baker says that can’t help but confer legitimacy on the company's products: "I don't know what better partners there are in print."

Journalists attack, managers defend
At least one journalist has objected to his paper running a Middleton come-on.

In 2008, Raleigh News and Observer ombudsman Tad Vaden criticized his own paper for accepting the "Universal Health Card" ad.

Vaden discovered the discount card — which costs $18 for a 30-day trial and $49 a month — did not provide price breaks at North Carolina providers a company representative claimed. (An Alabama TV reporter found the same thing.)

North Carolina regulators, who have received numerous complaints, said the program was legal, but such plans cause “confusion.”

Wrote Vaden, "I’m concerned not only that it gives information to readers that is at best confusing, but also that it undermines the credibility of the newspaper."

Asked about the health card complaints, Baker said he isn't involved in that product line, but joked, "I don't know what health plan isn't confusing and expensive."

The News and Observer’s sales manager told Vaden that the ad passed muster because it “clearly states what it is and what it is not,” adding that economic troubles had not caused the paper's standards to slip.

Local standards: guesses welcome
So what standards do the Strib and PiPress apply?

Star Tribune spokesman Ben Taylor refused to detail them, stating, “We provide an advertising marketplace and are strong believers in free speech — including commercial free speech. If we had had any standards issues with the ads, we would not have run them. We certainly are not going to debate with you on the claims advertisers make.”

Jeff Griffing, the paper’s new chief revenue officer, was at least willing to describe the process.

“We’ve got specific advertising policy guidelines [manuals] in the following categories: General, Automotive, Employment, Housing,” he explains. “There are trigger words and/or illustrations/photos in creative copy that get that ad hard-routed to our policy desk where a policy representative looks at every ad and checks against both our internal guidelines and law.

“In addition, categories like political and advocacy ads require additional forms to be filled out in advance, and those forms also go to our policy desk for deeper review.”

Pioneer Press spokeswoman Pat Effenberger passed my questions up the line, but managers did not respond.

Pricey products, discount advertising
Though UMS ads are large, they may not be huge moneymakers for newspapers.

On its website, UMS touts its strategy of buying “remnant,” or unsold, advertising, describing the dynamic this way:

Warm embrace: 'Amish heater' photo

“Publishers have a choice of filling this space with free ‘house’ promotional ads or selling it at deeply discounted rates” — in other words, they're buying the print equivalent of the acai berry.

Baker wasn't sure of the details of his company's ad buys. "We don't want to overspend on advertising."

Baker says he gets many emails from satisfied customers. The company has noted its one-year warranty and 30-day return policy, though you’ll likely have to eat the shipping costs on the not-exactly small items.

The company’s products are not universally condemned; Consumer Reports wrote that the Amish heater “does a good job,” though it criticized the “miracle” claim and mocked the “superior craftsmanship” of its wood mantels.

The Middleton company that makes the “Heat Surge” gets a “B” from the BBB, and its dietary products division earns an “A” and a “B,” depending on the location.

The Minnesota attorney general did not respond to two calls asking whether it had received complaints about Middleton products.

Still, given Middleton’s checkered record and the ads’ prominence, some local TV newsroom could probably produce an interesting investigation the next time a full-page offer pops up.

At least one local newsroom has provided a reality check. Back in 2008, Star Tribune reporter Karen Youso took a closer look at the Amish Heat Surge Fireplace. She pronounced it an overpriced space heater.