Best of the Lad-Mags (Maxim)

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Product:	Maxim
Date:	03/10/00 (223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning women

Disadvantages: Boring interviews

As the so-called lad-mags go, this is probably one of the better ones. There are a range of interviews, photo-shoots, reviews, and true life stories. I particularly enjoy the crime articles, which although gruesome, are interesting.

The selling point though, as with other such publications, is the glamorous photo-shoots of sexy women, whether famous or otherwise. These mags have a reputation for almost pornographic material, but I believe that this applies much more to publications such as Front. The photos are generally pretty good, and there are always some stunning ladies, although the interviews are lame (e.g what do you look for in a boyfriend?, what are you currently plugging? etc).

Having read the magazine for a while now, I think that things are not as good as they were, especially the value. The size has dropped drastically, whilst the adverts have been constant, thus reducing the number of articles. Maxim only becomes a value read when a subscription is taken out, which reduces the cover price by almost half. The other big criticism I have is the articles promising to make you irresistible to the opposite sex, and tips on how to maintain a great relationship. Whilst some of the information may be useful, most is either plainly obvious, or just pure rubbish. The worst part is that after a while, they rehash old articles and advice. Quite often, I recognise old articles with a new theme, and different pictures.

If you are after good writing, and varied topics, publications such as GQ are a lot better, but if you don’t mind fitting the lad-mag stereotype, then Maxim is your best bet.

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