STUFF IT Former Maxim editor Jimmy Jellinek and former Stuff publisher (back when they were owned by Dennis Publishing) are bringing their testosterone to Heavy.com full-time. [AdAge]
Kent Brownridge, CEO of Alpha Media Group (and Jann Wenner's former henchman) lives up to his nickname "Dr. Evil" by firing throngs of Stuff staffers, including veteran publisher, John Lumpkin.
"I'm still in the building, so that's a good sign," Lumpkin told The Post on Thursday. "I hope that I'm able to work out something and stay with the company."
Apparently not. The ax fell swiftly, and by Friday afternoon, Lumpkin was cleaning out his desk and taking one last longing look at Ivanka Trump's, er, assets.
Alpha Media, who recently acquired lad mag enterprise Dennis Publishing has announced its decision to fold Stuff magazine into the seemingly identical (but somewhat more popular) Maxim.
Stuff was, perhaps, best known for its impressive ability to meld boring gadgetry with half-naked chicks, enabling the mag to cater simultaneously to both sleazy fraternity guys and nerdy IT geeks who have never been laid.
It will be severely missed by its dozen or so subscribers, most of whom are unemployed and still living in their mothers' basements.
[NYT]
Oh, so you noticed we're nearly midway through August, which means the September glossies are lining the shelves on Barnes & Noble? Perhaps you've even carted a few home, or had your doorman drop them off outside your apartment door like a civilized person.
Either way, you've come to understand what your Equinox membership has really been good for all summer long: Not to look good poolside in Southampton, but to train for carting your stash of fat, shiny September titles to your sofa for afternoons of perusal. But just how fat are this month's offerings? We sent Intern Joseph to a few (dozen) Duane Reades and CVSs to find out. CONTINUED »
As most expected, Stuff magazine is shutting down under the new regime of new owners Alpha Male Group. But it's not going away entirely: It'll be folded into a special section of Maxim, though someone is going to have to tell us how to distinguish between the sections. [MW]
What's a guy to do with a trio of mags? First off, change the name of their corporate parent. Kent Brownridge, who led Quadrangle's $240 million buyout of Dennis Publishing, will be renaming the umbrella company, giving the Stuff, Maxim, and Blender laddies a new daddy. The former Wenner Media exec, meanwhile, is said to be in the business of adding jobs, not cutting them (which would be hard, given that staffers are already doing multiple jobs). Well, except for Dennis prez Steve Colvin, who's, like, leaving and stuff.
But where's Kent gonna find all this money for new hires? CONTINUED »
In today's issue of New York Press, we have yet another analysis of the demise of Cargo. Something about consumer porn and shopping and getting back to the "real man" stuff.
Cargo, along with Stuff, Gear, the defunct Vitals and all those other butch one-syllable names (why didn’t someone just go direct to the heart of the matter and call one Boner?) all chased after the same market—the dreaded media-made monster homo metrosexualis.
We find this paragraph extremely, extremely puzzling. First off, neither Vitals nor Boner are one-syllable names. Secondly, we don't know what to fear more: a 'butch' men's mag or a "monster homo metrosexualis?"
Especially when we're still working on being comfortable around straight guys.
CONSUMPTION PORNOGRAPHY [Steve Weinstein, New York Press]
And just when we were getting so excited over the concept of Maxim India, Felix Dennis, the publisher behind Maxim and Stuff, is putting the entire Dennis Publishing up on the block.
Dennis was the first to import the beer and babe magazine formula to America, where he boldly predicted it would outsell the established men's magazines.
After launching in 1997, Maxim, with its irreverent frat boyish humor, quickly eclipsed the established men's magazines, including GQ, Esquire and Details, and eventually spawned its own niche when it started brother title Stuff.
Just a week after saying goodbye to Stuff's editorial director Andy Clerkson, the lad mags are up for grabs, with a rumored price tag of $250 million.
So, what's next for the founder of glossy keg stands and wet t-shirt contests? Replacing all the trees he's destroyed with his frat boy bathroom literature: "He has often waxed philosophical on a desire to become a philanthropist and restore a major forest to his native England."
Too bad he can't to something truly good for society, like, restoring all of the brain cells that were wasted while ogling his mags.
FELIX DENNIS THROWS IN TOWEL HERE, MAGS MAY SELL FOR $250M [Keith Kelly, New York Post]
