http://www.menmagazines.net en-us Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:14:08 -0600 http://www.menmagazines.net/maxim/ Maxim is an international men's magazine, with a huge worldwide readership, based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, none of which are nudes. In the United States, Maxim is an industry leader, reporting a circulation of 2.5 million readers which they claim is enough to outsell leading competitors GQ, Esquire, and Details combined. The magazine is now using the brand name to market a load of other magazines and projects.

As a result of its success in its primary markets, Maxim has spread out into plenty of other countries, including Argentina, Canada, India, Indonesia, Israel, Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic, France (marketed under "Maximal"), Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia (where it stands now as the most popular men's magazine), Serbia, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, and Portugal (marketed under "Maxmen"). A wireless version of the magazine was launched in 2005 across cellular carriers in twenty European and Asian countries. In 1999, MaximOnline.com was created. It contains content not included in the print version and focuses on the same general topics, along with exclusive sections such as the "Girls of Maxim" galleries and the "Joke of the Day". "Maxim Video" contains video clips of interviews, music videos, photo shoots, and original content. The success of this website inspired Dennis Digital to create sites for its sister publications, such as Blender. In January 2002, Dennis Publishing established an online and retail video division, Dennis Media Group. In 2005 this division was disbanded and restructured to focus on creating video and multimedia content for the editorial branch of Dennis Digital. On February 5, 2005, Maxim launched their own radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, with several popular shows. The morning show, used to be hosted by DJs Steve Covino, Rich Davis and Spot. Covino & Rich airs from 3-7pm EST and replays from 6-10am the following weekday. While former Afternoon host Mike Bower moved to mornings. He is joined by Scooter and the provocative Producer Laura. The Nighttime Nation was hosted by Evan Roberts and Brian O'Leary with producer Rory Hamptons. Rory used to produce for Ron and Fez. In mid September of 2006 Evan quit Sirius leading to the end of the show. They took phone calls for one hour before leaving explaining the decision in which they spoke truthfully about Sirius, Maxim and satellite radio. Brian left the radio business, while Evan has been working at WFAN in NYC. The night time slot was taken over by John Devore and Diana Falzone. with producer Princess Lea. Originally on channel 145, in September 2005 Maxim Radio moved to Sirius channel 108. As of July 26, 2007, Stretch, host of the hourly "man-ER-tainment Report" moved to the late-morning shift, with his show starting at 10:00 AM Eastern. On June 5, 2006, the magazine announced plans to build a casino on the Las Vegas Strip north of Circus Circus, but the casino plan failed after local condominium owners complained that the proposed casino would ruin their view. The land was sold to MGM Mirage. On June 15, 2007, private equity firm Quadrangle Group, along with long-time media executive Kent Brownridge, announced the acquisition of the parent company of Maxim, Blender, Stuff and MaximOnline website, although Maxim will continued to be published by Dennis Publishing in the UK. Maxim is now published under Alpha Media Group.

Over all the years of its existence many celebrities: singers, actresses, models, etc. have posed for Maxim, such as: Jessica Simpson, Shania Twain, Christina Aguilera, Michelle Branch, Hilary Duff, Avril Lavigne, Tara Reid, Rebecca Romijn, Paula Garces, Brittany Murphy, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shannon Elizabeth, Jessica Alba, Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Rose McGowan, Megan Fox, Noureen DeWulf, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elisha Cuthbert, Anna Kournikova, Kelly Kelly, Layla El, Brooke Adams, Carmen Electra, Christina Applegate, Kim Smith, Laura Prepon, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Eva Longoria, Vanessa Minnillo, Roselyn Sanchez; and this is only a small part of them. ]]> Fri, 30 May 2008 06:33:02 -0500 http://www.menmagazines.net/maxim/ http://www.menmagazines.net/esquire/ Esquire is an American monthly men's lifestyle magazine that is packed with fashion&style advice, political commentary and smart editorial, alongside feature writing of the highest quality. Founded in the US in 1933 contributors have included such literary giants as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Norman Mailer. Magazine flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich. Today the magazine is aiming to return some of that magic to the publication. Jeremy Langmead (Esquire’s editor in Chief U.K.) comments: "Our new line-up of weighty writers boasts a trophy cabinet of prizes, gongs and accolades worthy of the magazine's illustrious heritage."

Esquire began as a racy publication for men, published by David A. Smart and Arnold Gingrich. It transformed itself into a more refined periodical with an emphasis on men's fashion and contributions by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the 1940s, the popularity of the Petty Girls and Vargas Girls provided a circulation boost. In the 1960s, Esquire helped pioneer the trend of New Journalism by publishing such writers as Norman Mailer, Tim O'Brien, John Sack, Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe. Under Harold Hayes, who ran it from 1961 to 1973, it became as distinctive as its oversized pages. The magazine shrank to the conventional 8½x11 in 1971.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Dorothy Parker wrote book reviews for Esquire, as noted by Daniel Itzkovitz:
Parker also produced a great deal of literary criticism, published over many decades in The New Yorker (under the title "Constant Reader") and from 1958 to 1963, in Esquire. These reviews were often penned with the same unblinking brutality as her earlier drama reviews (of A.A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, she said, "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up"), although as often they were generously sensitive and enthusiastic.

From 1969 to 1976, Gordon Lish served as fiction editor for Esquire and became known as "Captain Fiction" because of the authors whose careers he assisted. Lish helped establish the career of writer Raymond Carver by publishing his short stories in Esquire, often over the objections of Hayes. Lish is noted for encouraging Carver's minimalism and publishing the short stories of Richard Ford. Using the influential publication as a vehicle to introduce new fiction by emerging authors, he promoted the work of such writers as T. Coraghessan Boyle, Barry Hannah, Cynthia Ozick and Reynolds Price. Other authors appearing in Esquire at that time included William F. Buckley, Truman Capote, Murray Kempton, Malcolm Muggeridge, Ron Rosenbaum, Andrew Vachss and Garry Wills. The magazine's policy of nurturing young writing talent continued with Elizabeth Gilbert and others.

In February 1977, Esquire published "For Rupert - with no promises" as an unsigned work of fiction. This was the first time in Esquire's 44-year history that it did not identify a fiction writer. Readers speculated that it was the work of J. D. Salinger, the reclusive author best known for The Catcher in the Rye. Told in first-person, the story features events and Glass family names from the story "For Esmé with Love and Squalor". Gordon Lish is quoted as saying, "I tried to borrow Salinger's voice and the psychological circumstances of his life, as I imagine them to be now. And I tried to use those things to elaborate on certain circumstances and events in his fiction to deepen them and add complexity."

The magazine was a canvas for many artists and illustrators like Abner Dean, Santiago Martinez Delgado, George Petty, TY Mahon and John Groth among others. Art directors have included Jean-Paul Goude, Paul Rand, Roger Black and Samuel Antupit; also during the 1960's using the techniques of print advertising, legendary adman George Lois, the youngest inductee into the Art Directors Hall of Fame, designed clever, eye-catching Esquire covers, such as Sonny Liston as Santa Claus and Andy Warhol drowning in a can of soup to illustrate an article on the death of the avant-garde. Lois' covers raised Esquire's circulation in ten years from 500,000 to two million.

For many years, Esquire has published its annual Dubious Achievement Awards, lampooning events of the preceding year. As a running gag, the annual article almost always displayed an old photo of Richard Nixon laughing, with the caption, "Why is this man laughing?" However, the February 2006 "Dubious Achievement Awards" used the caption under a photo of W. Mark Felt, the former FBI official revealed in 2005 to be the "Deep Throat" Watergate source for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The magazine did continue the Nixon photo in February 2007, referencing a poll stating that George W. Bush had surpassed Nixon as the "worst president ever". Another running gag has been headlining one especially egregious achievement, "And then they went to Elaine's." (Elaine's is a popular restaurant in New York City.)

Esquire did not publish "Dubious Achievement Awards" for 2001 or 2002, but resumed them with the 2003 awards, published in the February 2004 issue. ]]> Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:04:15 -0500 http://www.menmagazines.net/esquire/ http://www.menmagazines.net/mens-health-magazine/ Men's Health is a lifestyle magazine dedicated to showing men the practical and positive actions that make their lives better. Articles and columns cover fitness, relationships, nutrition, careers, grooming, travel, and health issues.

History. Men's Health began in the United States in 1987 as an annual, before becoming a quarterly and then bi-monthly magazine, and is now published ten times a year. Its UK edition (with a separate editorial team) was launched in 1995, and it now publishes 36 editions worldwide, distributed to 48 countries. In the U.S., its 1.8m circulation (as of 2005) exceeds that of GQ and Esquire combined.

The content of the US version of Men's Health in the year 2000 was analysed in Stibbe (2004). The findings of this research suggested that Men's Health magazine at the time gave some useful health advice but included images of masculinity which were counterproductive for health promotion. In particular, the form of hegemonic masculinity promoted by the magazine had the potential to promote negative health behaviours such as excess alcohol consumption, excess meat consumption, reliance on convenience food, unsafe sex, and aggressive behavior. The scope of this study did not include how the content of the magazine has changed over time, or how the content of the UK version differs from the US version.

In addition to the "Men's Health" magazine, a website can be found at http://www.menshealth.com/ , which was instituted into the Men's Health portfolio in January of 1998. With the help of the web designer James Thoroughgood, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Men's Health has increased its profit margin by 9%, a number that continues to grow. Currently their website continues to provide information to subscribers between issues concerning fitness, sex & relationships, health, guy wisdom, weight loss, nutrution, and style.

Cycling Team. In 1999 Men's Health sponsored a British UCI Division 3 professional cycle racing team, the team's Director Sportif was Sid Barras, himself a former professional cyclist. Although the team achieved numerous successes during the year, sponsorship was not renewed in 2000.

Team members included Welshmen Matt Beckett and Huw Pritchard, a medal winning Commonwealth Games competitor.

Cover model. The front covers are usually depicted with images of attractive professional male fitness models and 'on brand' celebrities. However in 2002, the UK edition started what became a yearly competition in order to find a Men's Health reader with the body seen fit to front the magazine cover. It is hoped that the image of a 'normal guy' will spur other Men's Health readers to obtain the 'look' and also remind them that this kind of physique is obtainable to the "average guy".

First winner of the UK Cover Model search was Graeme Peacock, who secured a sponsorship contract with supplement manufacturer Maximuscle. There was no contest in 2003, but in 2004 the contest went annual, with the second winner being Neil Laverty, now represented by Compton Model Agency. Winners of the UK Cover Model competitions for 2005 were Ollie Foster (United Kingdom) and Manuel Mera (Spain). In 2006, 21 year old Mike Fawkes won the 2006 UK Cover Model competition.

To further strengthen the idea of achievability, the staff of the magazine often try out the health and fitness programmes themselves and write about their experiences alongside pictoral evidence. In March 2006, one of the UK writers, Dan Rookwood, appeared on the cover of Men's Health having transformed his body shape while working at the magazine. The staff of German Men's Health have also appeared on their cover, and UK fitness editor Ray Klerck has appeared on the cover as well as within the pages of the magazine as a model.

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