FHM Is For Him Magazine, A Review

For years men have needed something to help them unwind, have a laugh with their mates or just to find out what’s going on without carrying a huge newspaper around. Well in 1985 For Him Magazine began publication in the United Kingdom.

I’m a regular to the delights that FHM offers the men of today, buying it every month same day, same shop. But let us take a closer look at the wonders that FHM has to offer the world and how it all started.

The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994, although the full For Him Magazine continues to be printed on the spine of each issue. Founded by Chris Astridge, the magazine was originally mostly fashion-based content and distributed through high street men's fashion boutiques. Circulation of For Him expanded to newsagents as a quarterly mag by the spring of 1987.

After the publication of James Brown's Loaded (regarded by many as the first lad's mag) and later titles such as GQ and Esquire, For Him firmed up its editorial approach to compete with the growing market and added a sports supplement. It then went monthly and is where it changed its name to FHM. Subsequently it expanded internationally. As of January 2007, it publishes 28 editions per month including editions in Russia, South Africa and the United States.

Produced by EMAP, of which has many media divisions FHM was launched as a response to the success of Loaded, launched by IPC Media. Like Loaded, FHM arguably relies on the photos of women dressed provocatively or not dressed at all but not shown as such. Unlike many magazines, FHM prints photographs of women already famous for reasons other than their beauty like actresses, singers and the like. FHM is typically stocked in the lifestyle rather than more revealing sections of the newsstands.

With every one, from Britney Spears to Kelly Brook starring in this magazine it has arguably become one of the most popular lifestyle magazines in the world for this.

FHM photographers have been called the best men’s magazine photographers in the world by models and fellow members of the industry. They've definitely lived up to that reputation, capturing the true sexiness of every star in the magazine. There’s a different girl every week taking main stage on the cover and centerfold but on top of that there is always more, like the newest models or top 100 high street honeys, a competition where readers send in their own pictures of them selves or rather their boyfriend sending it in for them. 100 Sexiest Women in the world is the most well known list of beautiful women in that year of its kind, with it being widely enounced in other publications such as tabloid newspapers.

FHM is a great magazine to just find out about the latest Stuff, no other word for it. This is things such as gadgets, films, games, TV, music and cars. There’s always at least one page inside telling you about the latest gadgets and interestingly listings specific shops or websites to purchase them from, apparently a great form of income for these sponsored listings. The film pages are not so good all though they tell you about the latest films there is usually not enough information given, this could just be improved by a simple outline to the movie with a list of stars and the release date but it is a side to the magazine where it is let down. The TV section is usually quite good, with the newest programs around and what the best ones to see are and their scheduling, although I wouldn’t recommend this instead of you TV guide. FHM includes a nice selection of short music reviews; these are in great variety and cover the newest albums, singles, artists and videos. FHM is another magazine which follows the rules of Cars, Breasts and Beer to attain readers and so has dedicates a large percentage of pages to cars, oh and beer.

It is said that lifestyle magazines make less than 5% of their profits from magazine sales as with teh cost of printing and delivery etc teh cover cost just about covers it, the other 95% comes from advertising. This is where the real money in magazines are, looking through the latest edition of the magazine i discovered that 67% of the magazine is made up of advert pages, that is including half page adverts added up together. However this does not include promotion of products within articles nor does it include leaflets in the magazine. Here are some details about how much it costs to advertise in FHM, hold your breath:

Double Page Spread £39900

Page £21000

Page Outside Back Cover £27300

Half Page £10500

Single Column per Centimeter £100

Bound Insert £65

Loose Insert £45

(From The EMAP Advertising website)

(£1 = $2.0311)

You can understand now why it is multi million pound industry can't you?

Overall FHM is my favorite magazines but it could be greatly improved with less advertising as ruins some the experience as well as more concentration on certain articles which seem to appear there just so FHM can say they cater for everyone but they don’t cater for every WELL. Anyway the elements which make FHM different from the rest are its better quality photos and this is why I enjoy it. It is a successful business and will continue to be with its ever growing brand name into Internet and Television.