The first issue of mine, that free (conceived and sponsored by Lexus) choose-your-own-content (from assorted Time Inc. publications) magazine arrived last week– though not, reports the New York Times, without a hitch. Some subscribers received content from magazines they did not select and some of the content was dated (even more so than one might expect in a magazine made of re-packaged content).
My mine is fine, at least in that the editorial content came from magazines I actually selected. But the customized Lexus ads? Specifically the one that claims to “know how much you love redecorating your home?” So not mine. (According to the Times, Lexus “decided not to become too focused with its ads, asking just basic questions at registration rather than for information about income level or job title.” Which, if you want to talk targeted advertising, weigh in at our News Meeting.)
Time Inc. made available 200,000 digital versions of mine and 31,000 print versions — anticipating, as someone involved in mine‘s marketing told the Times, that “digital [was] going to be on fire” — but while “almost all of the print editions have been claimed…fewer than 30,000 digital versions have been ordered.” Make mine print.
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.