Distance Ed Ideas -

• Toyota Tries for Magazine Product Placement
  Toyota Motor Company has been exploring the idea of buying placement in magazine articles for its cars, a move that would further breach the wall between advertising and editorial content, according to an article in Business Week. That wall can be fairly week at some magazines, where favored advertisers can get their products featured in photo spreads about makeup and clothing. But out-and-out buying placement in magazine stories is something that we haven't quite reached yet. (Though it is common enough on television these days! Coke had almost 2,000 television placements in the first quarter of 2005. There's even a service now that measures the amount and quality of TV placements. )
• Synergy Drives Magazine Business
  We're used to seeing massive synergy in the movie and television business, what with product placement and product-themed shows. But Shape magazine seems to have hit a new high/low with the practice. The September issue of the women's fitness mag features the coverline "Win Liz Hurley's Cover Look." Liz is on the cover, wearing a bikini from her own line of clothing and makeup from Estée Lauder, form whom Hurley is a paid endorser. This all goes with a two-page ad inside the cover from the cosmetic maker. (New York Times)
  
• Jet & Ebony Founder John Johnson Dies
  Almost lost in all the stories about Jennings was the news that the founder of leading black magazines Jet and Ebony died Monday at the age of 87. (Washington Post)
  (Look at OTM as well)
• • Why Has Only One Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Featured A Woman of Color On The Cover?
    Bill Cooke, writing on the Romenesko Forum, notes that only once has SI put a non-white model on the cover of it's infamous swimsuit issue. (Actually, this year they put 8 models on the cover, all white...) Interestingly enough, this matches findings from a study done by the New York Times a couple of years ago that couple of years ago that found that except for youth oriented magazines, women of color rarely found themselves on magazine covers. (In researching this item, I came up with this story from NPR on 40 Years of Stunning Magazine Covers. Lots of examples of classic covers, including the John and Yoko Rolling Stone and the Demi Moore Vanity Fair.)
  • Do Magazines Make You Fat?
    According to gossip site Gawker (the shallower cousin of Wonkette), an anti-obesity advocate is trashing Redbook magazine for running a cover story on "WE LOVE YOUR BODY! from size 2 to 20, YOU'RE IN THIS ISSUE."
  • Have Magazine Covers Always Been Vacuous?
    A serious look at magazine cover history from PopCult Magazine.
  • How Do Models Get "Improved" With Photoshop?
    An interesting interactive feature that lets you see how a model's image gets changed through digital editing. I'm not sure what the original source of this simulation is. It takes a long time to load on my computer and buttons don't quite work the way one would expect, but it's worth taking a look at.