Might sells out big time
October 19, 1995
Might Magazine, the energetic, hilarious and reliably insolent magazine long known for shunning things like profit and success, is releasing The Sellout Issue Oct. 20.
For the eighth issue, the editors of Might have decided to sell every possible component of the magazine, including the cover, executive Lance Crapo said. “We sold out in a way that parodies the marketing (used by) magazines like Details,” he added.
Sponsors were attributed in headlines, photo captions, pull quotes, page numbers and even in letters to the editor, according to a press release. Also included in The Sellout Issue will be parodies of star-struck celebrity journalism, a music section with reviews by the artists’ own publicists and many articles on the concept of selling out.
According to Newsweek, Might is best when it makes fun of what other magazines do to chase money, while the Chicago Tribune feels the theme of Might is to bash the media stereotypes of their 20-something generation.
The reviews have been good. MIN, the media industry newsletter, described Might as a “marvelous magazine that purveys the ‘Generation X’ point of view in a satiric — but very well-written — manner.”
Might, a bi-monthly magazine with a circulation of 30,000, caters to a younger college crowd and covers many subjects including politics, media and society. “It’s a lot of different things, which is why I like Might,” Crapo said.
Might was started in San Francisco by three high school friends wanting to print an alternative to conventional magazines and to present a new perspective. “We know the people we’re reaching better than they do,” David Eggers, Might co-founder, said of older advertising executives who are now being forced into rethinking their targeting of the 20-something age group according to The Chicago Tribune.
“While we did shamelessly profit from it, we feel those to ultimately benefit from The Sellout Issue are our readers: for only $3.95, they get to learn what products to eat, drink, wear, listen to and drive,” Crapo said.
Crapo said that regular readers will not be disappointed because the issue is “so over the top that it stays in the satirical vein” and that the magazine would be on the newsstands by next week.