If I haven't admitted it before, I will now, I have a weak spot for magazines. I love them! I love the pictures, the articles and the information they provide... I just love them! However, I don't usually pay the store price of $4.99, unless I am thinking about subscribing.
Anyway, I have been working hard at the gym 3-5 days per week for about 8 months. I have noticed a small decrease in weight, a few inches off my butt and thighs, put nothing off my tummy! Boo! So, I my body is quickly moving, especially as I get older, from the "hour- glass" figure to a "square figure". ...you know when your measurements are the same around your chest, waist and hips. like...like Sponge Bob! Oh, no! I have a Sponge Bob figure!
I've tried sit-ups, ab machines and cutting back on carbohydrates but nothing! So, when I saw the big, bold letters "LOSE YOUR BELLY! See results in just 12 days", I put down the candy bar and bought the magazine. I read it cover to cover, learned a little, but never found the belly article and I didn't give it a second thought. Until, a friend who borrowed the magazine, returned it and said, "interesting magazine, but I couldn't find the article on '14 amazing sex secrets'". I guess they wanted to keep it a secret. So, after telling my friend "there is no such thing as sex secrets" (hoping she will tell me hers) and loaned her my teenager's sex education book, I decided to call the magazine.
ME: I bought your magazine for $4.99 at the store and couldn't find a few articles.
Reader Services Lady: OK, what articles?
ME: Well, the one that is published on the front in big bold letters, "LOSE YOUR BELLY!"
Reader Services Lady: Well that is throughout the whole magazine, there is not specific article. Is there any other ones?
ME: ..ahem...14 sex secrets
RS Lady: In 2 articles on pages Blah-Blah and page Blah-blah
ME: 2 articles? So you combine the articles and make them "amazing 14"? ...Hmmm isn't that false advertisement? And with the belly article it specifically says "in just 12 days"... how can you lose belly fat in 12 days with no plan?
BS Lady: No it is not false advertisement and you have to piece together the entire magazine.... personally, I don't think one can lose their belly in 12 days. Ha-ha
ME: (She's got that right!)
Blah-Blah-Blah
BS Lady: well I will defiantly pass on your comments to the editors.
Well, I will personally, pass on buying this magazine again (Women's Health). I am a little bitter about the $4.99... boy was I a sucker! On the bright side I did save $10 by not subscribing to the magazine.
8 comments:
Huh? Did I miss something? I did not lose mine but wish I would. It's quite found. Through my life and my weight ups and downs I always had a nice flat stomach . . . . . until now. I want to cry when I look at my side view in the mirror. Can't decide which looks worse, side view or frontal view? Wish you had said more, maybe this does not apply to what I am talking about.?!
LOL! Val, I accidentally published the title before I wrote my blog. Sorry!
By the way, I feel your pain! My stomach is not deflating either! Whats up with that?
I guess technically it is not false "advertising" since it isn't an advertisement per se, but that being said, it is this sort of pathetic gamesmanship that loses readers for magazines at a time when they are struggling to get and hold onto readers.
Much like the RIAA with music, they are shooting themselves in the foot trying to salvage a dead business model with these schemes that only hasten their demise in the end.
So what magazine was it... They deserve to be acknowledged for this questionable business practices.
Women's Health
I did exactly the same thing. I even had my husband read through it trying to find the "lose your belly" article! I actually thought about subscribing to this magazine and have been wanting to buy a copy to see if I liked it. However, I don't have time to read several articles and then try and figure out which articles will help me lose the fat around my middle. If I wanted to develop a plan, I would have written the article! They lost me as a subscriber!
They lost me as a subscriber, too. I (being a sucker) picked it up thinking they'd actually have what the cover listed! My husband also helped me look through the magazine for the "missing" items and I wound up finding this after a google search, since I was feeling like an idiot for not finding them.
I bought that magazine yesterday for exactly the same reason - and I went through it page by page more than twice, looking for the specific article. I asked my husband to do the same and he did. I think it is appalling that such a magazine can falsely advertise themselves. Certainly not going to buy any more of Womens Health magazines
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