Fhm: Who's Cheating Who?

By Author: Pem Charnley
Total Articles: 5
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With it recently coming to the attention of the staff at FHM that some of its readers were trying to fiddle a poll to find the world's 100 sexiest women, there comes a time when you really have to question how the likes of FHM are still going.

At their peak, lad's mags were refreshing; they cut through magazine culture. There was a surge of irreverence and hedonism. Of these magazines, Loaded arguably enjoyed centre stage.

Loaded was the brainchild of James Brown, who wisely jumped ship as the nineties progressed and lad's mags became as insipid as their competition - these magazines were becoming stale. Nothing short of bloated ego vehicles for what had by that time become a hackneyed journalistic movement.

And so to Jack, James Brown's latest venture. The editor's letter for issue one claimed that if the nineties were about celebration and self-destruction, Jack would be less self-obsessed. Brown goes on to say in the same letter that we love beautiful women, having a great time, looking good and having a laugh - but everything in moderation.

Moderation - this is the key word. ...
... Certainly, there are still elements of the lad's mag within Jack as it finds its feet, but at least it offers readers fresh hope.

Is it any surprise that those readers were fiddling the poll? As consumers, they probably feel so cheated by this magazine that it seems a shame FHM found out they were also being cheated.

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