Wedding magazines: the insanity continues
I just received the latest edition of a leading bridal magazine. The darn thing took up most of the space in my mailbox, has 528 pages and weighs about 15 lbs.! Now, this is not a once-a-year publication where they try to cram twelve month’s worth of information and ads into one edition. This monster comes out EVERY TWO MONTHS!!
I had always thought, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me, that the purpose of periodicals was to shed light on new information and analyze recent trends. Using this logic, and considering that I just received a 528-page bi-monthly magazine, one would think that the wedding industry is ablaze with groundbreaking research and discoveries in the world of nuptials. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.
I decided to count the number of pages that had actual editorial content. After all, the magazine boasts an editorial staff of 18, between executive staff, department directors, editors and editorial assistants. What I found convinced me that, just like Playboy, nobody “reads” wedding magazines for the articles.
Out of 528 pages, 101 were dedicated to “editorial content”. This is less than 20% of the magazine! However, I am using the term “editorial content” quite loosely here because out of these 101 pages, 75 were full of not-too-cleverly-disguised plugs for assorted wedding industry products and services! I found page after page of beautifully photographed flowers, invitations, china, dresses and jewelry, most with a minuscule blurb by the magazine describing the product and giving the (exorbitant) price and vendor. This is tantamount to calling a Playboy Playmate’s statistics “editorial content”.
This leaves us with a whopping 26 pages of groundbreaking information, including such intellectual gems as:
“For our first dance, we want to do a rumba like we’ve seen on TV dance shows. My parents think we’ll look tacky. Will we?”
Apparently, it doesn’t take a deep intellect to plan a wedding…But deep pockets sure do help!
I had always thought, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me, that the purpose of periodicals was to shed light on new information and analyze recent trends. Using this logic, and considering that I just received a 528-page bi-monthly magazine, one would think that the wedding industry is ablaze with groundbreaking research and discoveries in the world of nuptials. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.
I decided to count the number of pages that had actual editorial content. After all, the magazine boasts an editorial staff of 18, between executive staff, department directors, editors and editorial assistants. What I found convinced me that, just like Playboy, nobody “reads” wedding magazines for the articles.
Out of 528 pages, 101 were dedicated to “editorial content”. This is less than 20% of the magazine! However, I am using the term “editorial content” quite loosely here because out of these 101 pages, 75 were full of not-too-cleverly-disguised plugs for assorted wedding industry products and services! I found page after page of beautifully photographed flowers, invitations, china, dresses and jewelry, most with a minuscule blurb by the magazine describing the product and giving the (exorbitant) price and vendor. This is tantamount to calling a Playboy Playmate’s statistics “editorial content”.
This leaves us with a whopping 26 pages of groundbreaking information, including such intellectual gems as:
“For our first dance, we want to do a rumba like we’ve seen on TV dance shows. My parents think we’ll look tacky. Will we?”
Apparently, it doesn’t take a deep intellect to plan a wedding…But deep pockets sure do help!
posted by Baja Babe at 6:17 PM
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