trasher magazine

As I begin to take dig a little deeper with my magazine, Thrasher, I have realized that this magazine is seriously genius. Although there is none stop ads, the editors have really designed everything so that as you flip through the pages you seem to forget that you are even looking at advertisements. The lay out is planned so perfectly that the reader just gets caught up in the visual stimulation on the magazine.
There are a few similarities and differences that I noticed in this months issue compared to last month. For starters, although there are still 90% ads, it seems that all the ads are different this month than last. I didn’t notice any repetitive ads or pictures in the ads. This month was not a special issue like last months but they did have a central feature article this month, an interview with the boy who was awarded Skater of the Year and announced in last months issue. This month they sat down with him and interviewed him about his career, skating and what the award means to him. When I was reading this article I noticed what my favorite part of Thrasher is- PULL QUOTES! They seriously pick the perfect pull quotes for each article and they really serve as an entry point to grab the reader’s attention.
Thrashers mission statement is, “ Thrasher fuses the excitement of top-level skateboarding with reader participation, hard-edged music and attitude.” I think this issue was a perfect example of their mission statement. I noticed that this month there was a little more music articles than last months, which was a nice change. One other thing that I noticed was that they have a mail order shopping section in the magazine where they sell various Thrasher t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, baby clothes and underwear. The master minds behind this magazine have really thought of everyway to market the company to its readers to make a lot of money in various ventures.
I also did a little research this month and got a hold of some old media kits and information. Last month I had a hard time finding the magazine so in my research I found out that Thrasher magazine is distributed throughout the United States and Canada by Curtis Circulation Company. There are also a few other companies that they work with in the US but it still seems like it is difficult to find it at the magazine stand at Walgreens or Safeway sometimes. In 2003, there total distribution was 196,000 and 31% of that was in California alone. I also found some advertising rates that showed clearly why Thrasher is not going out of business anytime soon. In 2000 it cost $5,690 for a full-page color ad to run once and in 2003 it cost $11,117 for the exact same ad. I emailed their advertising director and am waiting to hear back about the ad rates for 2008 and 2009.
Honestly, the more and more I look at Thrasher, the more I am upset that I didn’t think of this magazine!