Men’s mags are pretty entertaining. God knows I’ve enjoyed flicking through the occasional faded lad rag while waiting for my fish and chip order to arrive and thanks to unlimited free access to breasts available on the internet surely these magazines are becoming increasingly obsolete, right? Apparently not!
Maxim, the home of the much looked-at “Girls of Maxim” and which claims to be the largest men’s magazine brand in the world, is launching its inaugural Australian edition in July. Publisher of the forthcoming Australian arm of Maxim Michael Downs told Pedestrian, “I actually think the market is crying out for it.”
After the recent closure of two magazines within the same target market it seems like a fairly risky business decision. The print edition of Ralph went under in July 2010 allegedly due to dwindling readership numbers and now exists solely as an online publication; and more recently, the sports-meets-tits title Alpha was taken from the shelves also because of poor circulation figures.
So then what’s the difference between Maxim and a magazine like Ralph? Well, from where I’m sitting (specifically, on the internet looking at the websites for Ralph and Maxim lol) there really isn’t much of a difference at all, however Michael Downs told me that “Maxim will be classier and more upmarket than Ralph. You won’t need to have big boobs to be in Maxim. We’re more about natural beauty and well shot, classy photography. As well as industry leading content, of course. Men demand great content from their magazines with all the competition there is these days.”
Whether they are actually bought first hand by anyone other than gender studies teachers and parents whose sons are learning to masturbate is unclear.
Content:
Michael didn’t reveal who the first cover girl will be, but let’s just say we have a feeling someone’s about to go back to work…
The first issue of Maxim Australia launches in July. Does it have legs?
