I had a friend years ago who worked in the Los Angeles area for a company that sold a hair restoring treatment. She had to use that ploy... they would take a copy of a full page of a newspaper, print it on newsprint with their ad on the other side (it's against copyright laws if nothing else) and then hand write "This really works" with her initials. Trying to make their company look more legit, as if it really had a full page color ad in that paper.
It's a tired, old trick.