The other day, I came home to find recently delivered copy of Men's Health on the table. I think it was a trial issue, as I don't recall having placed an order for such a magazine. These are usually the magazines I tend to avoid: ripped man on front, scantly-clad female at his side, cover littered with headlines such as "Lose that gut now!" and
"Schwarzenegger's Secret Shake!" and "20 amazing ways to drive her wild!" I am not exactly for want of any of these hidden gems, so I usually avoid the magazine in whole.But this time I looked inside, and I must admit, it was kinda cool. There was plenty of the aforementioned excesses, but there was something that caught me off guard. This is a man's magazine. It is not a magazine about men, per se, but a magazine for them. The difference may seem small, but I noticed it (aren't you proud?).
Everything about this magazine reeks of manhood. It is as random and varried yet wholly predictable as the average male mind. The articles are short and easy to read, and they even have the single main point of the article listed in color boldface in case you missed it. On one page, I can learn how to tune up my hot rod, train my body for a triathlon, cook salmon on a grill, hit out of a bunker, and keep my prostate healthy. All of this is on the same two pages! It would be impressive if they kept that chaos going for 10-20 more, but this magazine managed to do it for more than 140! That's impressive.
It's impressive to me because they've truly encapsulated the niche market. It's like, "Yes, someone actually understands a shallow man and can make a magazine for him." I don't know why, but it made me laugh. Most popular magazines have some clear agenda in the material they present: politics, stock prices, computer software, sporting events, clothing, etc. Those things are obviously all niche markets, but how many could boast such a wide array of options as this one? The possibilities are simple, yet surprisingly endless. And who would dare print the same stuff month after month, still hoping to keep their readers interested? Well they pull it off, and for that I salute them.
9 comments:
i bet a bunch of really smart women edit that magazine... they recognize the short attention spans of men. like stations in a kindergarten classroom... organized chaos. :)
And there are subliminal messages throughout . . . love your woman, treat her to a fondue party, let her go shopping, etc.
I love it. Crafty, aren't they?
I've seen this mag around on stands and such. It always looks more like it's reaching out for a female audience if you look at the covers rather than a male audience if you get what I mean.
What man really believes he could have a body like the man on the cover? You should critic a woman's magazine next. We woman don't really think we can look like the women on the cover. We just follow a few of the diet tips or do a few exercises so we can not feel guilty when we eat our chocolate chips.
right, angeljoey, but all the editors hope that somewhere deep down we really hope/wish/think that somehow we could look (at least a little) like the rippling man or curvy woman on the cover and that's why we open the cover... to find out HOW!
Take a walk down to any weight room, and you'll likely find a bunch of guys who feel, given time and the right suppliments, they one day will in fact look amazing and be tough. Some do, but most have no idea how much time and commitment it takes to build a body like that.
Just ask me. I know.
yeah, you do.
My Mom said I can be whatever I want to be and I want to be rippley and muscely.
I'll never get a boy to like me.
Afghan women don't exactly have to show off the goods to get a man. There's hope.
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