Two magazine samples: Maxim / Car

Media & Entertainment

Last week I got introduced to two magazines and in similar circumstances — I received sample copies for them. However, my reactions to both were very different. And that had to do with (a.) the nature of content and (b.) the mode of delivery — though both were delivered to my house by post/courier.

The first magazine I received was Maxim (of Khushboo picture morphing infamy) and the second was Car (which claims to be “the world’s best car magazine”).

I guess from the time I used to subscribe to Architecture+Design (A+D), a magazine brought out by Media Transasia, I would have been on their databases. Now they must have decided to send out sample copies (June 2006 issue) of one of their recent publications (Maxim) to current and old subscribers of their other magazines. Nothing wrong in it so far, right? After all, this in common marketing and sales lingo is called cross-sell.

My problem can be understood if you look at the following images.

Maxim June 2006, Cover Maxim Page 38 Maxim Page 41 Maxim Page 51 Maxim Page 56 Maxim Page 70-71 Maxim Page 72 Maxim Page 73 Maxim Page 70-71 Maxim Page 76-77 Maxim Page 79-80 Maxim Page 81 Maxim Page 82Maxim Page 83 Maxim Page 84-85 Maxim Page 92-93 Maxim Page 94 Maxim Page 95 Maxim Page 96-97 Maxim Page 97 Maximum Page 98 Maxim Page 99
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These images are from that magazine. And this was delivered at my home and received by my retired parents.

It is not that I am passing moral judgment on the content, or claiming that such literature is anathema to me. However, if at all I wish to procure and consume such literature — I wish to do so on my own volition. Just imagine if Playboy were to decide on such a promotion — and went on to airdrop a few sample copies into your living room!

Now contrast this with how I received Car. Cars, cover Sept 2006They called me up and asked me if I would be interested in receiving a free copy of their magazines. I was given a choice between their magazines Bikes and Car. And being a sucker for most things free — I did not mind receiving the copy. Though I am still trying to figure out how they got my details in the first place.

40 thoughts on “Two magazine samples: Maxim / Car”

  1. Pingback: DesiPundit » Archives » Exposed!

  4. I guess you should send some Rasavanthi (or whatever the street-porn mags ) are called now to Maxim’s Editor-in-Chief’s residence. Maybe just a few to their main office itself. Just put them in one of those semi-opaque envolopes :-)

    And you should call them and ask them if they would like to continue receiving the magazine :-)

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  5. Dear RR,

    Would u mind removing these pics from the blog please, some elderly parent might be blogging away and strike this page!!
    Let them not feel the same as ur parent felt.
    Hope U r with me on this.
    rgds

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  9. i pity the Media Transasia! what a marketing strategy they have… people interested in A+D will find bikini babes interesting…

    I dont know when commercial organisations would start respecting our privacy…

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  11. Hiya all…

    witnwisdumb: I feel (not sure though) it might have to do with the fact that I had once upon a time subscribed to Indian Auto magazine.

    satish: Call me ungrateful, but I didn’t like it all that much. Too much technical stuff. Let me see if they have a ‘referral’ scheme ;-)

    donthecat: That’s assuming they aren’t already subscribing to those!

    withheld: I thought about that too. But that’s not the right analogy.
    A more apt anaogy would be ME sending it to people’s in-boxes. For example, the daily newspapers coming to my home have similar pictures on many days — but then I have *willingly* subscribed to those publications. Incidentally, to further compound this — my parents would surely have been worried over the last some days seeing me scan all these pictures :-)

    pissed off Joe: You are right. It’s called Car and not Cars. Making the correction. Thanks.

    jammy: Refer to my reply to satish abt referral! And ouchmytoe.com now definitely looks cool!

    shashwat: And to add insult to injury, they send an old issue! :-p You are right, the primary issue is not the content of the magazine, but privacy!

    ranjit: After the Khushboo controversy, where Maxim morphed her face on some bikini-clad body (and which some people believe was actually part of a deliberate launch strategy!) I am sure they are ‘well-read’ especially in TN. But as Shashwat mentioned above — my problem was with the invasion of my privacy, not the content per se.

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  14. Danny:
    Do you mean to say, you want to see cheryl king more often? Or just more of her? Either way write to the editor. Would give them a valid excuse to morph more pictures! “Our avid readers have asked…”

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  35. Suvensu, Rahul Jain, Dinesh Babu, Susil Samal, Shyam Baviskar::
    Welcome to Internet, where I assume, you have completed your first two days! Now, can I show you the door to the world of sub-juvenile communication and single-digit IQs, huh?

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  36. sir,
    i want a free samples of magazine.
    plz send me a free sample i need it send it at

    tushar agrawal mayurenterprises motisagar near pathik hotel balrampur uttarpradesh 271201 india

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