FHM - Road to Coolness
Written: Mar 02 '00 (Updated Mar 02 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Big Size = Big Pictures
Cons: a little too European
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| SirMontego's Full Review: FHM Magazine Subscription |
The British are coming. The British are coming. Not by land, not by sea, but by magazine! Put THREE lanterns up on the Old North Church. Run for your lives!!!!! Hey wait a minute, this magazine is pretty good. Never mind let them in.
This Even Looks Like a British Mag
The new American FHM looks like a British magazine. First the size, this thing is huge, 8 ¾ by 11 ¾, dude, how am I supposed to sneak that past my girlfriend? Maxim works because I can neatly fit it between stacks of paper, but not this, it’s like sneaking an issue of life past my grandmother. Next, the layout, it has very fun tabloid feel to it. Sort of like a junior school yearbook, a little unfinished, and similar to Maxim. I also do appreciate the “oh-so-choice” glossy pages. Unlike some other American men’s magazines, this one (and Maxim) has put some major dollars into thick, coated, high gloss paper. The smell, it smells like a wrestling mat. Not the post match sweat smell, but that slightly unpleasant just cleaned rubber smell.
FHM or Maxim?
Comparing FHM to Maxim is inevitable. They were both originally British magazines that spawned American counterparts. They both specialize in quick-witted articles for short-attention-spanned young males and aim to make the reader “cooler.”
Maxim: it was cool
The biggest problem with Maxim is that it has alienated its customers. To understand why Maxim has aliened its customers and why FHM is better we must take a few steps back. A general principle of marketing is understanding the real product being sold. For example Revlon does not “sell” make-up, what they sell is youth. Furthermore, Oil of Olay sells hope, not beauty. Additionally, Disneyland does not sell entertainment; they sell memories. Lexus sells power and the image of “I’m so wonderful that I can afford this expensive car.”
Armed with the knowledge, we can now analyze Maxim. Maxim sells coolness. Every guy wants to be more popular, which leads to getting more girls, more money, more . . . well you know, and simply a greater enjoyment of life. Maxim shows numerous types of ways to do things better, like pool tricks, bar tricks, and ways to pick-up better looking women. The problem is that if you use a “Maxim” pick-up line on a girl who has read it in last month’s issue, she’ll look at you like you are the world’s biggest loser. The same goes with the pool tricks. The week that Maxim issue came out, every guy was putting the triangle on table and attempting to hit it will come cue ball. Yuck!
This is where FHM comes in. FHM is slightly better than Maxim, the articles are more insightful, the tips a little more tactful, and the pictures a little bigger. FHM will excel with the real men who really want to do things better. These are the smarter men who have come to the realization that every nerdy Starcraft player (including me I guess) who reads Maxim gets the same tips as they do. Do not get me wrong, Maxim was awesome, right until issue ten, when every guy in America started reading it like the bible. It’s like everyone has a turbo charged engine in their car now, I just got to get a better one, and my new one has FHM written all over it.
Enough With the Comparisons, Write About the Magazine!!
Judging from the content, it looks like the FHM editors put lots of work into this issue. Or, as my friend pointed out, the articles might just be from the British version, “translated” to American. Whatever the case, I found them informative. Some of the pieces included a “playboyesq” interview with Wes Craven, an outstanding 5 step forgiveness plan on how to deal with your girlfriend, a shark attack article, a body hair article that made me wonder “who reads this magazine anyway?”, a feature on what women say about guys in bed, some redneck hill-jack I love my car article, a “oh-my-god-I’m-in-love” pictorial on Susan Ward, and some sweet phones in the machinery section.
Additionally, like almost every other men’s magazine FHM has a fashion section. Only thing is that this section is really long. I kept going and going, almost as much as the Vogue end of the year special edition. Plus, most of the clothes were just plain strange, a little European for my tastes. Some of the outfits that I thought were “pretty pimpn’” were the ones on the relaxed tailoring and pale dressing section, the first couple pages of Westworld, and the white DKNY stone suite (except for the no socks part). What made me break out laughing was they said Aviator sunglasses are coming back, hahaha, anything you say . . . Maverick.
Speaking of fashion, who wants to see men in nice suits anyway? What if they had some nice looking girls wear the men’s suits, that would work for me.
Well, there is a new player in town, and Maxim you better watch out.
--SirMontego, look for me on battle.net
Recommended:
Yes
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SirMontego
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