Some years ago I wrote a piece about the many people I had observed
buying magazines, not necessarily for the articles themselves as such, but for
the competition prizes offered therein.
This fascinated me at the time. I knew of at least one woman who would
buy up to thirty magazines a month and then laboriously fill in, cut out and
send off all the entry forms. At this
time she told me that she had already won sunglasses; beauty kits; two
handbags; a scarf; beach towels; costume jewellery and a suitcase.
Now years later, I was waiting for a friend in the coffee shop attached
to Exclusive Books and to pass the time, (I was early and she is always at
least fifteen minutes late), I selected a few magazines from a shelf nearby, out
of interest. I am still not a buyer of magazines, so I was curious to see how
they had changed.
Well, they are certainly glossier on the whole but those obviously for
women up to the age of forty, contained the usual fashion (most of it hideous),
make-up ideas; diet tips; exercise advice; and all they could regurgitate about
pregnancy; childbirth; breast feeding and child rearing; recipes and healthy
lunch box ideas, etc., as well as many “success” stories. These covered the
range of illnesses overcome; huge financial obstacles and lack of any form of
support and how they had managed to turn their lives around and do good / make
vast sums of money / renovate houses / start their own successful businesses / travel
to distant shores / put themselves through University / and finally to proclaim
themselves unsung heroes or heroines, or have someone else do it for them. This
is not to belittle their individual achievements, which are undeniably great in
many cases but to wonder if these people had really managed all this as easily
as some had reported, almost single-handed, and if they had given adequate
credit where credit is due?
Then of course, there seemed to be sections devoted to the antics and
activities of film and stage stars, very few of whom would make good role
models. So all in all, these magazines were a supposedly eclectic mix of
nothing much to attract my fancy or attention, until I found the “WIN” pages!
My, how those have changed! No longer did I find the “small” offerings of the past. Now each magazine
tried to out do the next –
WIN A HOUSE
WIN A CAR
WIN A SEA CRUISE
WIN A TRIP to Disneyland for the whole
family!
Win a computer / I-pad / state of the art music centre
Where have our values gone, now that simply filling in a form or questionnaire
can put one in line to receive one of these huge gifts? What sort of world are
we actually living in, if this is what one has to offer in order to entice
people to buy a glossy magazine? It very
much seems like the beginning of yet another decline and fall of civilization!
I do suppose it is really to try and keep in line with the fast pace of life
and today’s tear away, disposable, here today and gone tomorrow type of life
style.
I prefer a slightly slower, calmer pace, at my age and if I were to
enter a competition, I would be very pleased to win anything at all, as long as
it was tasteful and had its uses! What do you think?
Rosemary.
