Feel that buzzing, tingling sound in the part of your brain devoted to recapitulations of things you’ve already seen? Recap season kicked off with the recent return of Community, but now it’s in full swing on occasion of last night’s season premiere of Mad Men, two hours notable mainly for co-star Jessica Paré singing a Read More
First Daughter of Mustique Elizabeth Hilfiger shouted “Is BryanBoy here?” The elusive Philippine blogger may not be, a P.R. type informed her. “BRYANBOY,” she groaned, exhibiting a classic vocal fry. Nearby, Bradley Cooper discussed football with New York Giant Victor Cruz–”I’m an Eagles man myself,” said the Limitless star–between posing for snaps with Read More
While the Giants clinched victory down in Indianapolis Sunday night, a contest of editorial mettle was taking place between New York’s top men’s magazines.
Shortly before kick-off, The New York Times reported that Hearst’s Esquire would post a movie-style trailer for a March print story about the Zanesville zoo massacre (remember when that suicidal exotic animal collector released 56 dangerous animals into a small town in Ohio?) along with a preview of the piece by Chris Jones. The latest in a series of editorial widgets (last month’s: a QR code on cover boy Bill Clinton’s crotch!), the trailer was designed to build buzz and boost sales of the print issue. The full story and a longer trailer would be online later, according to The Times. Read More
The March issues of rival men’s magazines Esquire and GQ both feature stories about the Zanesville Zoo in Ohio, from which dozens of exotic animals were released last fall by the zoo’s suicidal owner, Terry Thompson.
Both pieces were written by men named Chris (Heath for GQ and Jones, for Esquire). Both are online Read More
In 2010, flash sale giant Gilt Groupe dabbled in editorial content, restoring the glossy magazine editors felled by the axe of McKinsey & Company to their rightful, expense account-enabled glory, atop blogs like Gilt Taste, Insider, and MANual.
Those operations may have been a drop in the bucket for the billion-dollar company, Read More
In the H.R. equivalent of lining up to high-five a rival team after a foul-filled game, Bill Simmons has hired Charles P. Pierce, most recently of The Boston Globe, to write a column for Grantland, despite the pair’s longstanding feud.
It began in November 2009, when Mr. Pierce reviewed Mr. Simmons’s book, The Book of Basketball, on Deadspin. He took the opportunity to knock the messianic sportswriter down a notch.
“He did not reinvent sportswriting,” Mr. Pierce wrote, while allowing that Mr. Simmons was “an amusing writer who saw the vast potential of the Internet before just about anyone not named Gates or Gore.” Read More
Four weeks after it was submitted to Apple, the November issue of Esquire still hasn’t been approved for the iPad. Mashable reports that the app was deemed too risque, and that Hearst has resubmitted a less sexual version.
Meanwhile, British tabloid The Sun introduced page 360 for the iPad, displaying topless ladies on Read More
Hearst made its official iPad debut today with an Esquire app that charges full newstand prices for each issue and doesn’t offer a subscription.
If this seems like a ripoff, it’s partly because, as Esquire publisher Kevin O’Malley explained, “we have to reshape expectations,” when it comes to digital pricing.
But the lack Read More
Noted graduate student James Franco has published a short story in Esquire. Titled “Just Before the Black,” it explores the ever-fertile territory of vaguely seedy ennui, and the possibilities for escape through fantasy, drugs and death.
Those familiar with Franco’s home turf (the Bay Area) will feel the zing of recognition: “the Palo Read More
George Lois, the legendary and former Esquire art director, is not a big fan of Esquire‘s covers today.
“They’re just as bad as everybody else’s,” he told the Observer‘s Irina Aleksander this week. “They all believe in showing the most famous actor and that’s incredibly stupid. You go to the newsstand and all the Read More
