Vogue, April 2014
Last Saturday I went to get a haircut because I needed to look pretty for a wedding I’m attending. Kate’s brother, Eugene, is getting married… Congratulations Eugene. Since my guy doesn’t take appointments and it’s a first come, first serve agreement, I had to wait around a bit for my turn.
I like to call Alfonso my barber, but he doesn’t work in a Barber Shop. He is the only male in a Hair Salon – does that make him my Stylist? Anyways, after checking Facebook on my phone without finding anything amusing, I decided to see if the “Barber shop” had any magazines that might keep me busy for a while. But the magazines that were available were not up my alley.
Since I already know there’s nothing useful in Cosmopolitan and Vanidades (Spanish magazine that is nothing but sex. 90% of the topics are “How to make your man scream your name in bed” or “How to make your man achieve the greatest orgasm he ever had.” I honestly don’t know how come you don’t need to be 18 to buy this thing. I digress again.) I decided to pick up Vogue instead.
I Might Start A Magazine
The edition of Vogue I picked up is the one with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the cover from April 2014. I’m not a fan of either of them, but I figured there has to be other articles in there I can read.
I open the cover to get to the first page and the first thing I see is a full page ad. Nothing unusual so I keep flipping pages.
Page after page is nothing but ads. Clothing ads, perfume ads, lipstick ads, mascara ads, eye shadow ads, shoes ads, ads, ads, ads.
I flipped through 120 pages before I reached the first article! Okay, there were a few pages of letters to the editor, table of content, and about some of the contributors to the magazine, but those totaled maybe, maybe 10 pages.
This magazine was just full of ads and I’m sure they’re not cheap. I’m talking about full page ads and some of them were two-page spreads. I really need to start a magazine and get in on this action.
I’m Not Hating
I can’t really blame Vogue for all the ads, after all they are a business and they want to make money. I mean, I have ads on this site too, but if you had to go through 120 pages of ads before getting to my first post, you wouldn’t even be here.
I also have to say that even though I nearly got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome flipping pages in order to get to the first article, that first article was pretty good.
It was an article by Adam Green called “Late or Never?” which I liked so much, I’m writing a whole post about it soon.
Want To Make A Lot of Money?
Start a fashion blog and then turn it into a magazine.
I wish I was a fashionista so I can write about the latest style of jeans or 5 nail polish colors to die for… wait, I’m trying to encourage people to save money, not spend it. Never mind.
The reason why fashion magazines are so profitable is because we live in a consumer society where people are more concerned about the latest trend than they are about having money saved up in case of an emergency.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t treat ourselves to nice things, but do we really need 27 pairs of shoes and 115 handbags? Are the new Air Jordan any better than any other shoe? Are Coach bags really any better than any other bag? I don’t think so.
Instead of bombarding us with ads and crappy content, magazines and TV should concentrate on teaching people meaningful stuff. A lot of Americans don’t even know who the Vice President is, but I bet they know Kim and Kanye’s baby’s name. Some of them even know Snooki’s baby daddy’s name.
One of the things I’m liking about the World Cup is the lack of commercials. I get to watch at least 45 minutes of the game before somebody jumps out at me trying to sell me something. I am convinced that Soccer is not more popular in the U.S. because networks can’t make too much money from commercials. I’m not a true soccer fan, I’m just jumping on the World Cup bandwagon, but I like how they don’t show commercials.
I don’t have TV and don’t miss having it because I don’t have to sit through all the ads tempting me to buy stuff. And if you don’t think ads have an effect on you, think again. There’s a reason why companies spend millions of dollars on advertisement… because they make you buy their stuff.
Anyways, rant over.
I’m really not hating on fashion magazines. People are into fashion and that’s okay, you like whatever you want. I’m just tired of ads shaping our way of life by turning us into a consumer society – making us spend money on unnecessary things in order for “them” to make more millions.
[Photo Source/Credit: Vogue]
I couldn’t agree with you more. I hate picking up a magazine and having a plethora of ads trying to get me to buy things that I dont need. That is why I like blogs so much more because they generally have less ads and the ads that do pop up are generally more relevant to me.
I once used to be a magazine reader when internet wasn’t so common because it used to be my source of knowledge for basically everything in more interesting way than–let’s say–a newspaper. Nevertheless, now they’re so full of ads and with few articles (that can actually be found online), making it more like a catalog.
Thank you, for writing this from a man’s perspective!!! I’m all about looking good for my man, but not at the expense of our life savings!!! It’s ridiculous how much some people spend on beauty stuff!! Ladies, find two or three nail polish colors you like, get some good mascara and lip gloss, and go with it. You don’t need all of that garb to look good. Same goes with clothes. A few biz outfits and casual outfits, and a couple of good pairs of dress shoes and casual shoes and again, you’re good! And wealthier. 🙂
This was just happened to be a ladies’ magazine, but the men’s magazines are just as bad. They’re full of ads too. Always trying to get us to buy watches, sunglasses, suits, shoes, underwear, etc. It’s really the same thing. There’s a bit more makeup ads in magazines directed at girls, but the amount of ads is almost the same.
There is money to be made in so many places if we just look to find them.
I was just thinking about how I am in the wrong business this morning because I tried finding a dermatologist and had to call all over the place to find one with an even reasonable available appointment slot. Some weren’t able to make appointments until October! I finally found one and I still have to wait until August 8th. I should of went into the skin business.