Plenty of people in the media industry are throwing their hands up in the air and crying "why, Cargo? Why?" Ariel Foxman, defunct EIC, is definitely one of them.

However, it seems that like its closing, there are plenty of things Foxman didn't seem to fully understand about the magazine he was running. The publication had, at the very least, some identity and personality issues.

“It was never a men’s shopping magazine,” Mr. Foxman said. (Each issue included a sheet of page-marking stickers reading “BUY” or “SAVE.”) “It was a magazine that helped guys figure out the things they would need.” (September 2005: “These jeans reverse from a dark blue rinse on one side to a light gray-blue on the other.”) “It never identified with metrosexuals.” (November 2005: “I would love to find a cleaner, less painful depilation process—and maybe sugaring will do the trick.”)

The mag couldn't decide which way to flip its collar, who to put on the cover, or what its sexual orientation was. A "lifestyle magazine" was specifically geared towards a life full of shopping and grooming and spending — an obviously "modern" "ahead if its time" life.

Yes, in twenty to fifty years, guys who get sugar scrubs, have 15 types of hair gel, and download every DMX song ever made will be in the total majority. We can't friggin' wait.

Cargo–Ergo Sum: I Shop, Therefore I Am So Bummed! [Gabriel Sherman, New York Observer]