WORKS FOR ME (FHM)

Member Name: C_Padd

Product:	FHM
Date:	13/03/02 (1468 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very nice pictures, full of information and a long read.

Disadvantages: Lots of adverts

FHM may seem to just be one of the many men’s magazines around at the moment. Full of all the things such as cars, sport and others that men love and more importantly girls. Girls wearing not too many clothes that is, despite all the other stuff. It is not a top shelf porn mag there is a fair amount of pictures of women wearing very little and it has to be one of its biggest successes as it keeps growing and is very popular.

The fact is that most men do enjoy looking at this sort of thing, me included. FHM is more than that though; I really do enjoy what else is inside. The magazine is full of interesting features from the cover to cover. I also read all the words not just look at the pictures. FHM is full of helpful and interesting stuff. Clearly aimed straight at young men it may be offensive and shocking to some, but I love it. It is not the sort of thing that I would give to my gran. Beyond the girls there are loads more stuff. All the latest films and games are reviewed, products are tested, there are jokes and funny stories, interesting facts and lots of other features such as the greatest DVD’s of all time. Most importantly it is fun to read. It is written to entertain and again for the young male population and does that very well. It is funny to read, not to be taken too seriously and the end result is great.

Every month there are several features inside FHM. These are usually three or four long interview of about five to eight pages long with lots of pictures as well. These focus on current stars usually female with a few glossy pictures thrown in for good measure from their own photo shoot. These stars usually have something to promote, surprise surprise some singer will have a new album out soon so they do a FHM interview. I’m not complaining though they are always good reading. The interviews questions are not always the same out stuff that comes out of every interview and there can be some good questions. This mont
hs issue has Shakira the Colombian singer who they bill as Colombia’s second most famous export. No prizes for guessing what else. There are usually another couple of these long features, as well as Shakira they have former Baywatch Angelica Bridges and Footballers Wives Chardonnay (Susie Amy). There are also a couple of shorter interviews, Ali G and Arnie are on here.

Voting has just begun in the FHM top 100 sexiest women. This annual tradition has attracted a lot of interest and a lot of voters in the past few years. Last year saw Jennifer Lopez win for the second year in a row, with S Club Rachel Stevens in second followed by Britney in third. You get a voting for this issue or the chance to vote on line at www.fhm.com/100sexiest . This voting intrigues many and the results are eagerly awaited. The FHM site is a very good one. If little difficult to move around, it has a lot of the features as the magazine and of course lots of pictures for you to enjoy.

Fashion is a huge part of FHM. As well as all the adverts for things like Gap and Kickers there are about thirty pages at the back devoted to clothing and style for me. Lots of pictures then lists of stockiest make this not the most interesting to read. It has plenty of tips for good looking clothes though, so if you need a change or look for inspiration then it is not bad. Makes the magazine very heavy though I guess the ads pay for a lot of it.

All the months and upcoming hot releases are reviewed by FHM. All sorts, the latest films, DVD and VHS releases, computer games and music are given a rating and briefly analyzed. The reviews are usually accurate and well written. Some of the things they tipped a while ago have done well like they predicted and it is usually worth following their hot tip.

Sports section is a regular few pages devoted to sport every month. Usually in the form of an interview or some other feature it is good reading and usually informed writing.
Not a huge amount of sports for a men’ magazine just a few pages but what is there is good.

FHM has lots of nice touches through the magazine. There are lots of quotes and captions around pictures and it is all written very well. It is done in good humor and entertaining . Just things like ‘While we were getting preened this month’ following a table of how many garages and shops were burgled.

There are also loads of regular features that appear every month:

Letters – Comments and interesting points from the general public. Usually good for a laugh there are also other subjects where people can send in things to win prizes or cash such as amusing things women say, letter of the month and mistakes in the magazines.

Jokes – The usual jokes all from a male humor and probable quite offensive. Readers send their own jokes in for a prize, this month it was a GameCube and £50 for runners up. All funny, a good read and often original.

Reporter – News and other stories from around the world. Of course this wanders away from current affairs to bring disgusting, interesting and dirty articles. Nothing wrong with this, an interesting and entertaining read.

Ladies Confessions – Again readers get to send in their own stories for a prize. Just this time it is the ladies turn with all their real life and interesting tales. Usually a good read either they are disgusting or very funny.

The Knowledge – Usually offers some good advice on just about any issues under the sun that may leave a man confused. Tips on medical emergencies, real life situations such as how to film a wedding video or money matters.

True Stories – Just as the section title says this is a selection of true stories not unlike the Ladies Confessions pages. Readers send in their true stories to amuse/horrify/inform others all for some sort of prize in return.

Price wise I fin
d it great value for money. You hand over £3.10 each month and in return you get nearly 300 pages of top quality magazine. There are a lot of adverts which are a distraction and can irritate, but these are always relevant for the things the audience will be interested in and are occasionally interesting. FHM is packed from cover to cover and there is enough writing and pictures to keep you entertained for some time. Great value for money overall in my opinion. Glossy pages, quality pictures and lots of writing that is great to read this is a great publication.

Overall FHM is a top magazine. It clearly has a target audience and I am really do enjoy this magazine. Not only for the pictures, it is a very entertaining and full read. For what you pay it is great value and full of content from cover to cover. This is for me, it is not too hard to see if you would enjoy this sort of read but I love it.

Summary: