After social media mocks new Washington Post slogan, New York Times editor gets in on the fun

Social media users took to Twitter late last month to mock the Washington Post's new slogan, "Democracy dies in darkness." Now, a top editor at one of the newspaper's biggest competitors is joining in on the fun.

For the first time in seven years, the New York Times aired a commercial during the Academy Awards. The topic of the ad was "the truth."

“The truth is hard to find. The truth is hard to know. The truth is more important now than ever," the Times ad states at the end.

Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet was asked over the weekend at the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, which slogan he likes best — the Washington Post's "Democracy dies in darkness" or the New York Times' "The truth is more important now than ever," Ad Age reported.

Baque didn't sugarcoat his response.

"I love our competition with the Washington Post. I think it's great," Baquet said. "But I think their slogan — Marty Baron, please forgive me for saying this — sounds like the next Batman movie."

Baquet isn't the only one who has compared the Post's slogan to fiction movie subtitles.

One Twitter user last month mocked the phrase, using the title of a the popular "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens."

Washington Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti defended the newspaper's new slogan in a statement last month, saying, "We thought it would be a good, concise value statement that conveys who we are to the many millions of readers who have come to us for the first time over the last year."

(H/T: The Hill)