Mad Targets Madison Ave Mad magazine, which has spent 45 years taking shots at, well, everything, uses its July issue to lampoon the Effie-winning Citibank AAdvantage co-branding effort.

In one print execution in the original “Or Was It the Miles?” campaign, launched in 1994 by Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, a dozen red roses are featured with the line, “Was he sorry? Or was it the miles?”
In the Mad parody (shown here), an image of an operating room is employed with the line, “Did he need the triple bypass? Or was it the miles?” Citibank is referred to as “Citibunk” and American Airlines as “UnAmerican Airlines.”
The original campaign was the brainchild of a Kirshenbaum team that included then-creative director Mark DiMassimo.