Forget for a moment that magazines already do that all by themselves. Without fashion spreads full of designer clothes labeled and priced in splashy photo shoots, the entire categories of men's and women's magazines would collapse. Music magazines, meanwhile, are one huge advertisement for this band and that product. Where would technology magazines be without all those gadget reviews? And travel magazines are in the business of selling fantasy.

So I ask you, what's the problem with dropping a little advertising copy into the pages of a story? Is there really that much difference between an actual Vanity Fair story and one that goes like this:

Sean Penn breezed into the dimly lit, ultrachic lobby of New York's Paramount Hotel. He looks thirsty. But, then, Sean Penn always looks thirsty.

On this particular afternoon, he seems to want a Coca-Cola. Like him, it's the real thing.

But he doesn't ask for a Coke. As he glides into Paramount's Whiskey Bar, he requests a glass of water. Not Perrier. Not Dasani. Not Japan's Vijay nor Quebec's Naya. Any one of them, premium elixirs that not only satisfy the palate but also cleanse the body, would sate the manly thirst of this once (and future?) bad-boy Hollywood actor. Instead, Sean Penn opts for a simple glass of New York Regular, which is to say, tap water.

But an astute observer can see by the sweat on his brow - if, that is, sweat had formed on his brow, which it hadn't, and which it won't, because Sean Penn is a celebrity - that he would actually prefer a Coca-Cola. It's the pause that refreshes. And Sean Penn, although looking sprightly, could use some refreshing.

Of course, it might be a little tougher for newsmagazines. Newsweek, for example, might have some trouble with product placement while running a story on a presidential summit: