Occasionally I enjoy reading the odd magazine. Sometimes I just need to get in touch with what the world is being told about fashion, food, exercise and so on. The other day I got my hands on this month’s Cosmo. I have never been so annoyed at a magazine in my life.
The theme of this month’s mag ‘the F word’ which by the way is FAT (I know what you were thinking!).
The articles are not much better than the pun of the ‘f’ word. The copy purely insulted my intelligence and lacked any credential substance. Within minutes of leafing through the magazine, I could see the sales and marketing team had been hard at work…. Of course being summer everyone is concerned about their weight so BAMMM it on the front cover, match it up with a yellow highlighted spot about ‘shoes’ and obviously this issue would fly off the shelf. I have nothing against marketing… I’m an online marketing expert.. but I left a job in the past where sales becomes more important than better good of your users. There has to be some balance.
There was NO balance in this issue of cosmo… the mag still included its normal ‘adverts’, full page spreads showing tiny models of the perfume and fashion industry. I found it hypocritical to read one article about ‘celebrity weight pressures by the media’ and on the page next to it see not just a tiny framed model, but a tiny framed model in a corset. If celebrities are pressured by society and media, don’t you think that consumers and the girl next door are pressured in exactly the same way.
I was annoyed about the article showing ‘tummies’ of different sized women, obviously cosmo opens up their article with a full page shot of a tiny model’s stomach, followed by women ‘off the street’ who are happy with their size. Principle is not always about being happy, what about the health factor, no mention of BMI or waist to hip ratio. My question is: ‘Why not?’ Where is the substance the how to the real facts the issue about Obesity and the UK. Of course readers do not want to read this, but as a publication that reach so many women, it is their responsibility to inform the public and guide the public. I’m not talking about turning cosmo into a fitness magazine, but for gods sake a blurb about ‘healthy weight loss’ or a snippet of a useful ‘tummy exercise’ would be nice.
I think the articles lacked depth of what looks good and IS healthy.
If you are looking for some useful magazines about health, beauty and fitness, my favourites can be found here
