Just got off the blower with Pope Benedict's people.

As the Jewish celebration of Passover approaches, I've been doing some freelance work for Manischewitz, the number one matzo company in America and the world. Of late there's been a resurgence of those who prefer the fancy-schmancy Shmura matzo--even though Shmura runs about $20/lb. as opposed to the $4-$5/lb. for a box of Manischewitz. What's more, the Streit's company has upped its ad spend of late in an attempt to steal both shelf space and market share from Manischewitz. Then of course there are the store brands, and the new matzo from Kraft packaged under the name: "Matz-OH!" and with the horse-radish already inside.

All that to say, the Manischewitz people wanted a big campaign. And that's when it hit me, that a perfect storm of matzo promotion was forming. So, with Pope Benedict's arrival in America later this week, I called up the Pontiff's people. After a bit of dickering, the Pope scrawled his infallible signature on the dotted line.

So all next week you'll hear this: "Today's Lord's prayer is brought to you by Manischewitz, the world's number one maker of matzo and other kosher products." And then comes the Lord's prayer, and my ineffable form of genius. The pope in his hoarse and heavily accented English says, "Give us this day our daily Manischewitz Matzo."

That's product placement, friends. That's how it works.