| Product: |
Heat |
| Date: |
12/10/06 (349 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Celeb Gossip, Interesting Articles, Hunky Men Photos.
Disadvantages: Crammed With Advertising, Can Be Repetitive with Weight Issue Articles
Heat is one of my guilty secrets. Every week, Every Tuesday morning I run to the local newsagents as regular as clock work to snatch a copy before they all fly off the shelves. Its like getting a fix of a drug, only my drug is a magazine full of trashy celeb gossip.
Celebrity gossip addiction is actually being recognised as an addiction by mental health chiefs. The bombardment of reality tv stars, images of hollywood A-List dolly birds and hunky fellas cavorting about on screen and in the daily papers has increased 10 fold in the past years. The increase of the 'nobody celebrity' who achieve notoriety by appearing on Big Brother and becoming the latest 10 minute fish and chips wrapping paper is apparent by their made up faces smiling blankly from the weekly magazines.
Heat is a UK weekly celebrity orientated magazine. Focussing on whos 'hot' that week in the press they feed the appetite of millions of womens celebrity additions everywhere. They are the pimps of their world! Arriving on the scene in 1999 editted by Mark Frith it wasnt an immediate success. But as the rise of reality shows and big celebrity couples in the world has increased, so has their weekly circulation. They regularly shift half a million copies a week. They are thought to be at the top of the league for what they do, their advertising campaigns and celebrity endorsements only serve to prove this.
Their Target Audience..
Although it is noticeably more aimed towards women, men also make up a huge percentage of the overall readership. The target audience would be 20 somethings with an active interest in reality shows, the latest trends, fashions and TV shows. A good knowledge of the latest celebrities and their reputation is desired but not essential. If you are after an intellectually stimulating read with politics, debate and news articles then this is not for you at all. If you are wanting a quick lighthearted read to catch up on in dinner breaks, between meals or when your feeling bored this is for you.
Whats all the palava about then?
The first thing that strikes you as you pick Heat up is the front cover. They have a huge straight on head picture of the hottest star that week. Normally this is along the lines of a Big Brother contestant from the past such as Jade Goody (a heat favourite) or a star from TV. Whoever has the most drama and speculation around them that has something to declare, come clean about or apologise for is a good bet. This is a huge plus for Heat, their magazine is the most eyecatching on the shelf. With other mini pictures and headlines scattered around the front page there is always something to grab your attention and make you look.
They have tapped into the whole, lets talk like we are your friends in real life, and treat the reader as a close companion. With regular in jokes and articles like 'Everyones talking about..' which tackles the burning issue of the week, its really water cooler stuff. They are very up to date and in touch with their readers.
Articles are often at the front of the magazine and are one on one with the Celeb in the news that week. This has been Nicky and Pete in the past couple of weeks with their On/Off relationship, which lets face it was never destined to work. Asking questions which everyone wants to know they often get the truth out of their paticular celeb and a great tagline at the same time which entices you in. They have thrived on celebrity break ups such as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and also the love life of Posh n Becks is another Heat favourite!
The photography used is in my opinion one of the best I have seen in magazines. The shots are always so clear, un airbrushed and funny they are a delight to look at. If you fancy a quick flick through before reading articles there is plenty to look at. They have a feature called 'This Week In Pictures' which is soley made up from random paparazzi photographs from around the world of celebrities with accompanying comments which are sarcastic and very caustic.
They arent afraid to tackle what everyone on the street is thinking and actively target naff celebrities with features on their private life, poor dress sense and the material they are producing. Urring on the side of caution with regard to litigation, they have made a few enemies in the Celeb world with articles they have gone with. Very tongue in cheek with comments the journalists tell it as it is. In one article where they had an interview with the Sugababes they said they came across as bored throughout the interview and impolite. Its the first time Ive ever seen such narration in a magazine and thats one of the points why I find it compelling. Ewan Mcgregor however is not such a fan, he urged fellow celebs to boycott it all and described it as a "Dirty, filthy piece of shit." The intrusion into their life is often disregarded by celebs but others actively seek it to enhance their careers.. until it backfires.
Reader contribution is actively welcomes with a 'Letters' page which taps into the reader pysche. Letters are printed which are sent into them by email, text or phonecall. They are often insulting about celebs in the news at the time or supportive of an underdog. They also offer money as a reward for any mobile phone pictures taken by the public of celebrities in their 'spotted' feature. They give you £200 for any photo you sent in that they publish.
There is an apparent and quite obvious fixation with the weight of female celebrities, particularly US film stars. This can be annoying and I have known a few of my friends have stopped buying Heat solely for this reason. Stars like Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton and Paris Hilton are regularly splashed across the pages with detailed accounts of how much they weigh, spottings of them eating a burger <gasp> and how they are worrying their family members. There is no pro anorexia aspect to all this as they do include information on the damage these stars are doing to their bodies with regular doctors warning regarding osteoperosis and related health problems to slimming. It is more of a shock tactic to gain more readers who have a 'car crash mentality' to looking at the new pictures of stars looking even more skeletal than normal. I find it a worry that younger readers will disregard the warnings and aim to be like these idols.
They do have articles promoting the fact that having a bit of meat on you is much more appealing with articles on Charlotte Church, who at a mere size 12 is described as curvaceous and the perfect size. They also run surveys on the perfect body weight and size and it always come back as Curvy is better than being slim.
They have a great Fashion section which I particularly enjoy. It has a great picture of the 'Buy Of The Week' which is always snapped us as soon as its published so dont bother trying to buy it. Plus photos of Celebs in different outfits and comments. Beauty advice and a whats hot and whats not list is must do reading for me. The clothing they do feature is always a bit on the expensive side though, I wish they would focus more on high street shops.
At the back end of the magazine there are TV & Movie Reviews which are often honest and not unashamedly sucking up to Movie execs. A top ten list of most seen films and bought DVDs is also listed. After this is a book review section which mostly features chick lit and celebrity autobiographies reviews. These are great to check out before buying books and give a realistic account of what to expect.
Then there is a full 7 day tv listing of both terrestial channels and SKY. Each day has 4 'picks of the day' with a quick summary of why you must watch this programme, this is handy. They love the soaps, especially Coronation St and Eastenders and poke fun at characters regularly.
At the back is a crossword, horoscopes and a '10 questions we ask everyone' this is a quick article where celebrities are pitched with varying questions that are often bizarre and make for good reading.
Advertising is...
Appearing more and more often thoughout the magazine. After every couple of pages there is often a full page spread about a product.. being aimed at Women these are quite predictable. Make up, TV Shows, Vitamins, Supermarkets, Car Insurance, Bath stuff, Mobile ring tones. Its all pretty lighthearted, cheery stuff but I would much rather read more articles as it can get frustrating when you are faced with page after page of the stuff. But they have to make money so it is inevitable. Compared with glossies such as Cosmo and Marie Claire it is much less and kept to a minimum.
The Price is..
also increasing as times go by. But what isnt nowadays ::sounds like her mother:: It is now up to £1.65 which is slightly lower than the average price for celebrity magazines but getting more expensive all the time. A cheaper read is 'Now' magazine which is based on the same premise and is as good a read at only 70 pence. For the quality of the magazine I dont think its a bad price.
In summary..
Heat is a great read if you are after something which wont need you to think or use any brain cells. If you get outraged by the increase in minor celebs around you will hate it. On the other hand if you love mindless gossip and thrive on other folks heartache well your in for a treat!
Heat Info:
On average Heat is around 140 pages.
Contact Details :
Heat
7th Floor
Endeavour House
189 Shaftesbury Avenue
London WC2H 8JG
heat@emap.com
copyright cherwaite 2006 xx
Summary: The Celeb Addicts Weekly Bible
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Last comment:
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calypte - 14/10/06 I have a feeling that as I don't really know who 'Pete and Nicky' are, I'm not the target audience! |
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