Most likely the reason you bought the magazine was because the magazine with attracting pictures and catchy word phrases, in some way or form, interested you. With the bright colors and attention-grabbing headlines who could resist the temptation of spending an inexpensive 4 or 5 dollars it costs to buy them. Why are magazines so luring and attracting to buy? As you walk by a magazine rack have you ever noticed all of the advertisements reaching out to you, calling your name? Okay, so their not literally calling your name but you get the picture.
I'm sure you haven't because you probably didn't realize that there were any types of advertisements on the cover of your favorite magazine or any other magazine for that matter. Well, I would like to inform you now that there are all kinds of advertisements on the covers of magazines. It's not a secret that the editors and writers know just exactly the type of stories to place on the cover of the magazine that will appeal to you as the reader so that you will buy their magazine.When taking a look at the cover of the popular magazine, Glamour November 2000, I attempt to dissect it trying to find out what the magazines major claim is or what the magazine is trying to display to it's readers. This genre of magazines is a fashion magazine.
The cover stories appeal to women very easily with brief headlines such as: Feeling Fat? How Not to Blimp Out Over the Hi-Cal Holidays, and the heading that would be sure to attract women: Happy, Sexy, Healthy, 153 Ideas to Reinvent Yourself.It doesn't take a great many brain cells to figure out that Glamour and other fashion magazines are trying to attract women who are typically between the ages of 20 and 40, working class women, wanting to improve their marriage/relationships that they are currently in. The working class women between these ages are seen throughout the magazine. Models sport office attire and also dressy casual attire when going out for the evening. The avertisements also feature working women with children, and the actresses, though they make a lot of money are also working women.To appeal to an audience of women, the magazine uses color.
For example, in this issue the colors are lavender and orange. Who would want to buy a magazine that used drabbing colors or no color at all? The magazine uses brief story lines so that potential readers will know what kind of stories are in the magazine. To top it all off the magazine usually includes a picture of a celebrity in the center of the cover so that the reader, who is typically a woman, will have an image to critique her own body against.Usually this picture is of an actress or a model with beautiful hair, trimmed and well cut nails, perfect make-up and a fit yet skinny body. The actress on the cover of Glamour this month is actress Debra Messing. She is featured wearing a multicolored sequence dress that reveals some skin with her long beautiful hair flying around as if a fan is blowing.
A woman that is looking at this magazine might consider buying it because she may think that she wants to look like her. Then, when reading the storylines, the woman is informed that she can look like Debra Messing with the 153 Ideas To Reinvent Yourself article.This product/magazine is associated with fashion, beauty, and relationships. In these types of magazines women are given hopes that they can improve their image and relationships by reading the articles and following them. Women imagine the perfect relationship as having a man that is sexy, good-looking, loving and someone in which you have a great time with all of the time.
It symbolizes the "American Dream" to be beautiful, in shape, in the perfect relationships and live happily ever after..From a cultural stand point, the people featured in this magazine are of Caucasian ethnicity, however, other cultures are represented in this magazine such as African American, Oriental, and Latin. Cultural values are implemented in the articles.
I see this represented in the clothing that the models are wearing. Usually when flipping through the magazine to the articles and pictures they show of models in the latest fashion and styles, the wardrobe designers will put the pieces of clothing with a certain ethnicity that is typical of that race.For example, a dress that looks of oriental distinction would most likely be put on an oriental model. Let's face it, I know that I don't look beautiful in an oriental dress, but when i see it on an oriental woman i may think differently. However, when looking through Glamour I have noticed that through out the magazine there is mainly Caucasian woman. The attempt to throw in different nationalities may just only be an attempt.
Magazines want to try to appeal to everyone and this is an evident way to do so.Glamour also, assumes that culturally American's think topics such as quick ways to be happy, and changing your look to be more attractive, will cause men to fall at your feet. It's not a secret that American's are not patient because we are used to having everything at our fingertips, and therefore that is why fashion and beauty magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan are able to sell to so many women between the ages of 20 and 40. They are at the childbearing age, and after they have a child they want a quick fix to put their bodies back to the way they used to be.They want to feel young again and to improve their marriages or relationships.
As a sub claim I look to the ads in the magazine. One such ad that I would like to comment on is an ad on General Foods International Coffees advertising their new cappuccino flavors. Relating to the magazines major claim, the ad shows men and women having a wonderful time at what looks be a party as they drink their new flavored cappuccino and socialize with one another. The men and women in the pictures are around the age range that I said before.The ad also has a coupon attached offering a dollar off of a purchase of this product. This coupon is there to entice you to buy it.
I believe that this makes you think that even if you don't like coffee you will save a dollar by using the coupon and therefore it wouldn't matter if you had spent the money on it and didn't' like it. By looking at the pictures the ad uses, you are made to think that by buying this product you will be happy, have many friends, and be appealing to other people.Coffee drinking is typical of this age range, and advertisers know who to direct an ad like this to. The magazine doesn't put advertisements in the pages for nothing.
If you were to glance through the women's magazine, Good Housekeeping, you would not find ads for an awesome four-wheel drive truck. You would most likely find ads about cleaning supplies and possibly beauty products. Beware! Magazines are a magnificent way for companies to entice you to buy their items. They think they seem to know exactly what the consumer wants, but do they really know?Advertisers in fashion magazines thrive on the fact that women constantly criticize their bodies. By showing actresses and models in fabulous dresses and looking very pretty and skinny, the magazines invite you to find flaws with your body, but then tell you that it's okay because they have a way to fix it. You can tell a lot about our culture from looking at fashion magazines and the ads they contain.
So why do we continue to buy these magazines? Because most people are not satisfied with their looks and we probably never will be.
