Playboy Magazine vs. Maxim Magazine

Lisa H.

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Playboy Magazine vs. Maxim Magazine

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Abstract

A heated competition exists between Playboy and Maxim magazines, two internationally-known magazines aimed at the male pop-culture target audience. Playboy, a well established publication, has risen to the status of sex icon in the fifty years since it was created by Playboy Enterprises Inc. mogul, Hugh Heffner (Lazaroff, 2004). The magazine possesses a rich history of featuring celebrity model centerfold spreads and humorous editorials, and has served as a means middle-aged males could stay in step with the times. In 1997, United Kingdom-based Maxim was launched. The impact of this publication has been tremendous, to the extent that an article in the American Observer stated that "The traditional U.S. men's magazine market has been under a British invasion for seven years" (Kay, 2005).

At a recent lecture given to the NYU Department of Journalism, current Playboy editor Christopher Napolitano said the magazine serves to accomplish two main goals
With respect to consumer base, males compose 80% of Playboy readers, with females composing the other 20%.
Certain trends can be observed when looking at these figures.
With respect to Maxim's circulation, the total number of paid and verified circulating issues in 2006 was 2,568,339.
In contrast to Playboy's CPM, Maxim's appears to be quite higher.
The content description found across the cover of Playboy really help highlight the difference in content found in both of the magazines.
Generally speaking, the content found within Playboy, at least of the non-sexual nature, seems to be more sophisticated and intellectually stimulating than that of Maxim.
The editorial love-affair with Kaminsky proves to be very interesting, as Playboy is now viewed as better able to compete with Maxim.
I reviewed these four magazines as a 22-year-old woman, and do take an interest in men's issues, not to mention the fact that I also love looking at a hot girl.

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[...] The company describes the magazine as being ideal for the man's man kind of guy; essential guidebook for (Maxim, 2008). With respect to consumer base, males compose 80% of Playboy readers, with females composing the other 20%. The mean age of the average Playboy reader is 33.1 years, though 54% of its readers are in the 18-34 age range. The rest of the magazine's subscriber's fall into the 35+ age category. In terms of marriage status of readers reported being married, with the other 66% reporting being single. [...]

[...] Knowing that Maxim has a younger audience than Playboy, I expected to like it the most, but I did not. Knowing that Playboy is attempting to appeal more to a younger reader, I was especially looking to see if they are succeeding. I conclude that they are trying, and making progress, though Maxim still will likely continue to appeal to more young males and females than Playboy. I found that the old joke, read Playboy for the articles,” isn't so much of a joke. [...]

[...] The emphasis placed on sex here likely contributes to the large Maxim consumer base that is in the 18-24 age range, while Playboy focuses on a majority of issues that may be attractive to its readers, including fiction excerpts. Generally speaking, the content found within Playboy, at least of the non- sexual nature, seems to be more sophisticated and intellectually stimulating than that of Maxim. A greater amount of attention is paid to issues surrounding politics, and current events in the world. [...]

[...] Maxim beat out Playboy magazine in this category in both 2005 and 2006, being placed at number 32 in 2005, and 34 in 2006. With respect to total gross revenue from advertising, Maxim reported $260,720 in fiscal year 2005 and $256,903 in 2006 0.6 In terms of total annual pages devoted to advertisements, Maxim published 998.85 in 2005, and only 930.64 pages in 2006, or a decrease of It is interesting to note here that this is approximately double the advertising pages Playboy published in both years. [...]

[...] This may suggest that Maxim offers more content that is found appealing by very young adult males, and this may help Maxim establish a solid customer base that will continue to read the magazine as they get older. It also appears that Maxim is preferred by wealthier consumers, and this may suggest that the magazine offers more content regarding areas of life enjoyed by people with more money, than Playboy. Or people with more money may be able to afford more magazine subscriptions. [...]

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