Advertising is inevitable. Of course you expect to see ads when you consume media — whether it's watching TV, reading a magazine, scrolling blogs, or catching a movie.

But at the theater? The latest attempt at ad companies has invaded the art scene … and not just on the playbills, either. If you've been following the Times (and we just feel obligated to) you knew this live action advertisement was coming. And yesterday, to the disgust of Campbell Robertson, it debuted.

No, to answer your question, there is nothing sacred. The advertisement, which is itself advertised as the world's first live theatrical commercial, is a creation of Visit London, a tourist organization.

Visit London? Visit London? Are you freaking kidding us? We've just had it. Tourists come here, and as much as we don't want them, drop loads of cash into our economy, and we're telling them to go see the theater in London? We get that the London tourism board paid for the live ad that nobody actually paid attention to, but, still. Couldn't Bloomberg, with all his media savvy, come up with some type of "come back to New York next year" campaign?

As if Three Days of Rain wasn't enough to drive all the theater goers out.

Enter Stage Right: Live Advertisements [Campbell Robertson, New York Times]