Playboy may have the pictures, but Maxim has the award.
Maxim received the award for Best Circulation Performer for 2001 from Capell’s Circulation Report.
The report has been selecting the best performers in consumer magazine circulation for the past 19 years, and in its Jan. 14, 2002 issue, Maxim was at the head of that list.
Although, according to Maxim spokesperson Drew Kerr, Maxim’;s main competitors are Stuff, GQ and Esquire, many college men see the competition for their readership between Maxim and Playboy.
“Maxim’;s articles are better written and more humorous than Playboy’;s,” said Maxim subscriber Toby Vest, a University of Memphis senior.
According to Kerr, Maxim is a true “guy’s magazine.”
“We talk to guys like they talk to each other,” he said. “It’s a true general interest magazine. We put the reader first.”
Sophomore Jeff Pachucki agrees that Maxim is more appealing to normal men.
“Maxim relates to guys more on day-to-day life — not just with sex, like Playboy does,” said Pachucki, who has subscriptions to both magazines in his household. “Maybe I’m just not lucky enough for Playboy to be my day-to-day life.”
Playboy has been in the day-to-day life of many men since 1953, while Maxim has only been playing the field since 1997.
In its five years of publication, Maxim has acquired a world-wide readership of over 14 million. In Playboy’;s 49 years of publication, it has gained a global readership of almost 15 million.
Kerr attributes Maxim’s quick growth to the opportunity for men’s magazines when Maxim was released.
“Maxim was released during a time when men weren’t reading men’s magazines. They were reading sports magazines, but not men’s lifestyle magazines. We saw this market opening and jumped on it,” he said.
Word of mouth also helped Maxim’;s popularity grow, according to Kerr.
“As soon as the first issue came out, people started circulating jokes that they’d read and just talking about the magazine in general,” he said. “Guys get the sense of humor that Maxim has, from the cover throughout the issue.”
However, to some Playboy fans, Maxim is still just a rookie.
“Playboy is more respected than Maxim because it is a founder of men’s lifestyle magazines,” said U of M senior James Goin, a subscriber to Playboy. “Playboy is like Vanity Fair and Maxim is like Seventeen.”
And Playboy fans don’t read the magazine just for the pictures.
“I do like all the nudity,” said junior Bryan Padawer. “But I also read the articles, and they are very well written.”
Goin agreed that Playboy is better written than Maxim.
“Not only are the articles in Playboy better, but, because the magazine is so respected, they can get interviews with everybody,” he said.
However, according to Vest, there is still a stigma about reading a magazine with a lot of nudity. “Maxim is more acceptable to read in public because there is no full -frontal nudity,” he said.
Pachucki agreed. “Maxim is more class, and Playboy is more...”
Well, you can guess the rest.
