Wanted: Ad Free Mags!
I am beginning to question if I am getting value for my money when I buy some monthly glossies. These days they are so jam packed with adverts you have to really search hard to find the actual articles for which you bought the magazine in the first place. Then of course, there are the inescapable leaflets and junk mail stuck in-between the pages – normally offers of some new credit card or another. It drives me crazy.
A couple of years ago I used to buy a fantastic, ad-free business magazine called Be Unlimited. Sadly though, barely 5 issues later, it’s publication was discontinued because the running costs where just to high for it to carry on without placing ads between its pages.
Even O, the Oprah magazine, which in my personal opinion is one of the best magazines around, is being reduced to nothing more than an advertisers dream. Every other page carries an ad and this irritates me no end. I start to read an article, get to the end and it tells me ‘…article continues on page 197…’ and the reason why? Because between page 190 where the article ends and page 197 where it begins again, are six pages of nothing but adverts for Maybelline, Clarins, Ralph Lauren, L’Oreal, some new drug for which you are being offered a free 5-day trial pack (do people really send off for those?), oh, and even MacDonald’s have muscled in on the act with their advert for their new Asian Salad . Asian salad? I thought salad was salad. *shrugs shoulders*
Unfortunately, the articles in Oprah are good so I can’t quit reading in protest and even if I did, I very much doubt that it would be noticed. Since I keep all my back issues, I am thinking of denuding them of their ads and having them rebound again into one big Oprah Mag. We’ll see.
Perhaps magazine publishers should explore the possibility of having a supplementary magazine insert which will be full of ads only and for those readers like myself who are irritated by the amount of ads featured on the pages of mags; we can simply take out this supplementary insert and chuck it in the bin.
A couple of years ago I used to buy a fantastic, ad-free business magazine called Be Unlimited. Sadly though, barely 5 issues later, it’s publication was discontinued because the running costs where just to high for it to carry on without placing ads between its pages.
Even O, the Oprah magazine, which in my personal opinion is one of the best magazines around, is being reduced to nothing more than an advertisers dream. Every other page carries an ad and this irritates me no end. I start to read an article, get to the end and it tells me ‘…article continues on page 197…’ and the reason why? Because between page 190 where the article ends and page 197 where it begins again, are six pages of nothing but adverts for Maybelline, Clarins, Ralph Lauren, L’Oreal, some new drug for which you are being offered a free 5-day trial pack (do people really send off for those?), oh, and even MacDonald’s have muscled in on the act with their advert for their new Asian Salad . Asian salad? I thought salad was salad. *shrugs shoulders*
Unfortunately, the articles in Oprah are good so I can’t quit reading in protest and even if I did, I very much doubt that it would be noticed. Since I keep all my back issues, I am thinking of denuding them of their ads and having them rebound again into one big Oprah Mag. We’ll see.
Perhaps magazine publishers should explore the possibility of having a supplementary magazine insert which will be full of ads only and for those readers like myself who are irritated by the amount of ads featured on the pages of mags; we can simply take out this supplementary insert and chuck it in the bin.
posted by Pilgrimage to Self at 11:07 am
4 Comments:
You can get an ad free mag and it would probably be three times the cost. Would you pay this?
Your alternative regarding putting all the ads in one place so people could bin that section is precisely the reason why the mags won't put the ads in one place cause they want to force you to look at the ads.
I had a blog about the TV license as I hate paying it and would prefer to see the ads instead. I guess in this capitalist society someone has to pay...
Yeah, you're right. Pity though. Oh, and yes I did pay three times as much for the ad-free business mag but it was worth it.
i'm on a magazine diet... no more buying!! i hate those ads what a waste of space! you'll see a really big mag issue and u'll be all excited thinking you are going to read something good only to open it up and find 100 extra ads!
@ Onada: I know what you mean. I used to fall for it as well.
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