John Goggin
Dr. Ted Gournelos
CMC 100 – Paper 2
November 6, 2012
Correlation between accepting nature and age
Correlation between age and amount of text
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
How can GQ, Men’s Journal and Boating magazine explain some of the complicated intricacies
of battling and accepting age? By taking 3 magazines that had different median ages of men I
could decode and compare some of the unconscious variable that separates them. I will explain
how and why some magazines are designed for an older reader in mind and how other are for a
younger one.
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
Marketing has become an art form in our society that can make or break a campaign.
Well targeted marketing can be the difference between a striving company and a dying
company. Although sometimes it seems like ads are carelessly drawn up; this is far from reality.
Every color, word, picture, and logo has a purpose on an ad weather it is consciously realized or
not. Magazines like GQ, Men’s Journal (MJ) and Boating magazine are all tailored for exactly
what their market wants. The companies that advertise in these magazines understand there
audience and how to attract them.
The three magazines I chose are GQ November Issue, Men’s Journal November Issue
and Boating Magazine August Issue. I chose all male oriented magazines with different
demographics so I can evaluate how they approach the market differently. They differ in
masculinity, social class, financial standings, and age of viewers. Through my content analysis I
argue that magazines GQ, Men’s Journal and Boating magazine approach masculinity in three
very different ways. I will discuss how these magazines ads are associated with demographic
age. Backgrounds, sexual content, style and priorities all play a role in these advertisements.
One of the biggest factors to who is buying which of the three magazines is age. GQ has
a median age of 38, Men’s Journal 44, and Boating Magazine 53. GQ as a young stylish
magazine appeals to a younger more image conscious crowd. Men’s Journal is for a middle aged
middle of the road heterosexual male. Boating magazine is for an older wealthier male who is
concerned with efficiency over style and just wants to spend time on the water. These age
differences may not seem extreme but they matter. At 38 men tend to still be in decent shape,
have plenty of energy and the financial security to live nicely and provide for their wife and
young child. Thus they have the energy and the body to wear stylish flashy clothes. By the time
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
these men are forty four they may have at least two kids to keep up with and not nearly the
stamina as 6 years earlier. These fathers are more tired and cannot see why they should spend
so much money on fashionable clothes. Why not just wear some normal jeans and a shirt. At 53
your children are heading to college and you finally can relax. This is time for the men to buy
their boat and enjoy their piece after a much needed break.
Researching these magazines I noticed some very important trends that supported my
general view. In the latest issue of GQ, 40% of the advertisements featured clothes. These
clothes were young tight and sexy to say the least. Only 13% of Men’s Journal Advertisements
feature clothes because wearing very fashionable clothes may lose priority with age. MJ was
more focused on mature products like luxury cars, cologne and watches. Out of the clothing ads
MJ did feature; they were relatively hip, young and sexual. This could disprove the fact that
even forty four year old like to look good with stylish apparel; except for one detail. GQ clothing
ads can be very sexual, very rebellious and sometimes just raunchy. In MJ there was a Lee Jeans
ad that featured a younger male with a girl with her arm around him. It was young and kind of
sexy but not raunchy. It would appeal to even an older demographic because we would love to
be that guy either way. In GQ there are three ads for Calvin Klein Jeans that borderline
pornography. The model in one ad is wearing leather bracelets and a denim button down with
on button done up and a face that says, “I’m craving a male lover who will listen to my inner
most feelings.” Compared to the Lee Jeans ad, very few older men would want to be that
model. It’s very sexual, raunchy and metrosexual, if not gay. Men’s Journal can appreciate style
but not when it starts to look homosexual. Boating magazine has almost no interest in apparel
fashion. The majority of apparel ads are products made for efficiency instead of looks. These
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
products are for a generation of men who do not try to look pretty, they just want their coat to
keep them warm and sunglasses to keep the sun out of their eyes.
Having a better understanding of what kind of people buy these magazines allows us to
decode the seemingly insignificant details we find in advertisements. What unconscious
messages are these advertisements telling us about flaws in nature or that at a certain age it’s
better to accept the inevitable?
GQ advertisements have three characteristics that were made very clear. First off they
are very masculine in nature. Almost every ad is for a product used by males with the exception
of some feminine looking watches. According to the media kit 71% or subscribers are male so
we can assume GQ would feature almost all masculine products. Second, 62% of all ads
featured a masculine looking man somewhere on the page. This relates to this want for
perfection. Viewers who compare themselves to these flawless figures may feel flawed
themselves proving that they need this product to be equal. Jealousy of viewers is one of the
leading reasons people buy these expensive jeans and colognes. We want to be like these
unrealistic gods and goddesses by owning what they own. Third, 93% of all ads consisted of
masculine colors. Almost every single ad was either black and white, masculine shades of reds
oranges and yellows or deep blues. Being a male magazine if Chanel had a pink and purple
cologne ad I may feel feminine if I even thought to buy this product.
One trend that was interesting was that less than 20% of advertisements featured
nature. The reason advertisements do not show natural images relates to the belief that fake is
better. We want make-up, hair products, bigger boobs, and all around perfection. Nature can’t
offer perfection because nature is flawed. The younger generation is accepting towards fake
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
improvements according to these advertisements. The symbolism connects to the disbelief that
natural is better. Many backgrounds were either a solid color or an urban setting. The
advertisers are not saying that urban and simple is necessarily better but natural is definitely
wrong.
Men’s Journal followed many similar trends such as featuring masculine products, using
masculine colors, showing masculine men and the avoidance of nature. The real difference
between the two magazines, GQ and MJ, is that GQ will have some very provocative
controversial ads. Surprisingly Men’s Journal featured even less nature than GQ. The reason for
this could be the older age. In a person’s late 30’s there should be no reason for any corrective
surgeries or procedures like Botox, a boob job, liposuction, etc. After children and getting closer
to 50 years old some things are going to start to weather and show flaws. I believe there is a
reason a magazine for an older generation avoids showing natural images with products.
Chances are if it is natural, no matter the product, it is probably less effective as artificial.
I had one final realization when researching the Boating magazine. Because Boating is a
nature embracing activity I cannot approach natural aging and the current age of the person.
Flipping through the pages or Boating I realized a common trend in the amount of reading
material and the average age of the reader.
Unlike the young sexy sleek magazines like GQ, older generation magazines like a lot of
text. This made me realize that Men’s Journal had more articles and written text than GQ but
less than Boating Magazine. I went around the house and found GOLF, Truckin, and Motor
Trend. There is a direct correlation between the age of the reader and the amount of text and
articles the magazine has. Unlike the fast life style of the younger generation the older
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
generation has no problem spending time reading paragraphs about a product. Near retirement
age or an age of less physical activity, having a longer more time consuming magazine is a must.
In conclusion both GQ and Men’s Journal avoid nature because nature is flawed in the
eyes of a younger generation. GQ keeps things very sexy edgy and simple because younger
readers are less interested in reading a lot. Men’s Journal has slightly more articles and texts
because it is targeted towards an older demographic. Boating magazine has lots of text and
articles because the older generation appreciated longer reads because life moves at a slower
pace.
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.
Reference Page
Boating Media Kit 2012
http://www.bonniermarinegroup.com/files/_attachments/media_kit/btg13_magazine.pdf
GQ Media Kit 2012 - www.condenast.com/brands/gq/media-kit
Men’s Journal Media Kit 2012 – www.justmediakits.com/mediakit/2548-men_s_journal.html
On my honor I have no given nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this piece.