US Vogue’s Bleak September
Ah, the September Issues—when American fashion magazines sell more ads than any other month, and staffers gorge themselves on parsley, in celebration. How are the stateside September ad sales looking this year? Not too fab. Especially for Vogue.
Last year’s September issues came just as the recession was hitting its stride. Still, ad pages were gargantuan (though not as gargantuan as the preceding year): Vogue sold 674 pages, nearly a quarter of its ad pages for the full year, in September 2008 (pictured).
Now it’s almost time for fashion mags to tell the world how they did this year! It will be bad. But maybe not as bad as March, the other big ad sales month, which was really bad! Elle tells Ad Age that its ad pages are down 21% for this September, versus a 28% drop in March. Harper’s Bazaar says it’ll be down by about 25% in September. Essence says it’s down 16%. And Vogue, the big daddy of them all…isn’t telling. Which does not sound promising:
Vogue declined to comment for this report, but recently told the New York Post that its September issue would top 400 ad pages. Landing at 400 exactly would mean a 41% decline from last September. Getting to 450, one rumour going around, would mean a 33% drop. March, by comparison, fell 25%.
Well, the first quarter and the second quarter were hell for Conde Nast, so why should the third quarter be any different?
[Ad Age]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Yes, and coincidently, Jesus has washed my sins away. I can do anything now. Mwahahaha! @if_i_only_had_a_heart:
keira knightley, isn't she that young woman who sings songs with muppets?
oh no wait that was kylie minogue
are they different?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPA4UOOWP8&feature=PlayList&p=F635683289422304&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=24
@snugbug: Is she wearing a parachute? Heh, those Masai fellows were probably dying to stab it with their trusty spears.
This reminds me of the scene in "Ridicule" where the French nobles meet the chief of the Sioux nation and one of them says, "Half naked and with the name Stinking Bear, and yet he almost makes us look ridiculous."
@BookishLookish: omg u got your star back, o joy o happy day
If US Vogue was more relevant, it wouldnt be that way.Apparrently, Vogue China is doing better than" Wintour", how possibly could that be?
Mohamed Ndiaye-Kingué
Vogue: out of touch and looking like US magazine. Movin' on.
Queen of the Passive Aggressives
@BookishLookish: If you find this cover offensive to the senses, check back on that Keira Vogue cover + pictorial of 2007(?) when she was vogue-ing in Kenya on the back of elephants and posing among indigenous peeps like a freakin' colonial princess. THAT made my teeth rattle.
snugbug
@BookishLookish: It's* actually an ingenious form of camouflage for hunters hiding in hides of laundry. For city wear, it's a look often called "Dormitory Moderne."
I'm just stunned that Keira Knightly seems to have lost 30 years from her face.
*contraction, rather than possessive case.
I wanna know all about the miracle fitness machine. It probably only sells for $20, 000 or is only available in the most exclusive gyms.
No need to buy the entire issue, I can tell by the cover shot that the industry has finally stopped trying to sell me high-waisted pants.
God that's still a lot of pages full of expensive, mostly unnecessary crap.
@Neutralize: Agreed. Look at that hideous cover. Keira (snore) has the hair of a recent chemo patient, and what's with all the ridic schmattes they've decked her out in? And, uh, stylist? How do you explain that belt? And the necklace goes under the top? Hidden away--oh, the company that lent those rocks is going to just love that. Where did you go to school, the lower college of Fucksamatta U?
I miss models on the covers. Who wants to buy a new issue when it's just another boring actress that's already been on the cover 20 times?
Nicolarz
@fuzzywhat: don't forget nicole/charlize/reese/the jennifers. all white, all boring as fuck.
I'd love to know WHICH advertisers were in there for last September vs. this one and how many pages they renewed. I want to know who's cutting budgets. News I can use, so to speak.
If they only have a selection of like 6 celebs with a "worthy" enough fashionable image to cycle through, they are better off going back to models. How is one to know that the current Scarlett/Kiera/Kate/Sienna cover is different than the last few times they put them on.
fuzzywhat
Not to beat a dead horse/Anna Wintour in particular, but maybe if the magazine weren't so fucking ugly and out of touch it would sell more ads.