I went to Borders (at Riverwoods) and was amazed at how many magazines there are! I never read magazines (okay, I read the Ensign and National Geographic), and so I hadn't see all the covers and titles that are available. I was a little shocked with all the magazines for gamers, and all the half-naked ladies covering many of the magazines.
I picked a magazine called American Cowboy (Western Lifestyle/Travel/People) to read through. The cover had a picture of Ed Harris (who is that?) on his set of a new movie called Appaloosa. Ed had a serious look on his face, a black Cowboy hat, and a scruffy face. Along the top of the magazine it said: Top 10 Western Movies. Other headings on the cover said, "+117 Totally Entertaining Travel Destinations," "Western's Enter a New Era," "Ed Harris: Appaloosa," "Must-Have Looks for Fall," "Bull Riding's Ultimate Showdown," and "Rough Rider: Roosevelt and the West."
Just from the cover of the magazine, I could conclude that the "typical reader," for this magazine would be, 1. An American, 2. A male, 3. Someone who is either a cowboy, or who loves cowboy things and Westerns. 4. From the titles of the articles it sounds like the magazine is reared for males ages 18-40 (and maybe older too, but it seems that older men aren't as interested in fashion.).
On the back cover of the magazine was a sexy-looking girl modeling CruelGirl brand jeans for Rocky Mountain Clothing. Throughout the magazine there were a lot of ads featuring sexy cowgirls and cowgirls with cowboys. This is another indication that the magazine is aimed for men, especially young-middle age men.
When I opened the magazine the first page was a 2-page, full-color ad, for a Silverado Truck. I thought, "How typical." Every cowboy wants a big truck. There were ads for cowboy hats, specialized shoes, saddles, Western-looking light fixtures and more. The ads were generally aimed at men, and at men with money to spend on specialized cowboy gear. There were tons of ads for cowboy clothing, and there was even an article on the latest "looks" for cowboys for fall.
The Table of Contents featured articles with titles such as, "The Greatest Westerns Ever Made," "Theodore Roosevelt at 150," "Showdown on Kodiak Island," and more. On the next page, some of the departments listed were, "Roundup," "Cowgirl Turf," "Taste of the West," and more. As I glimpsed through some of these articles I realized that there were a lot of real-life stories of cowboys covered. This appeals to an audience of men who are cowboys, and men who wish they were cowboys. The articles were written on around a tenth-grade level, so the average American cowboy could read and understand them.
The magazine also listed ads for Cowboy associations to join, Border Patrol (on horses), and Rodeo ads. There were a few pages dedicated to cowboy events going on in the US with states and phone numbers listed. There was an Advertisers page and a Shopping page. There were letters to the editor and letters from the editor. The editor's picture shows him wearing a cowboy hat and looking very normal and down-to-earth. His article was titled, "Humility Breeds Gratitude." There were pages that advertised the lasted country music, western-themed art, and western books - all geared at the real cowboy, or the want-to-be cowboy. The magazine also referred often to it's website - showing that the magazine was targeted at a media/computer savvy audience as well.
It was fascinating to learn so much about magazines just from glimpsing through this one simple magazine.
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