Direct Mail Magazines

In 1999, Imperial Tobacco Ltd. followed in the footsteps of its American counterparts by launching a series of direct-mail publications. The publications, which are mailed to the homes of individuals in the company's database, closely resemble the kinds of popular lifestyle magazines that tobacco companies aren't allowed to push their products in anymore. The only obvious difference is that the pages of Imperial's magazines are jam-packed with tobacco-sponsorship ads.

Although Philip Morris and RJR have been in the publishing business for several years, it is Brown & Williamson's recent efforts that have developed direct marketing magazines into the slick tobacco-marketing tool they have become. Brown & Williamson publishes a wide range of magazines, including "Real Edge," modelled after Maxim, "Flair," modelled after Glamour, "The Art of Simple Living," modelled after Good Housekeeping, "Pursuit," an arts magazine, and "One-World," aimed at African-Americans. Each magazine promotes a certain lifestyle, and the tobacco products to match.

Over the past couple of years Imperial has been picking up Brown & Williamson's titles, beginning with "Real Edge" and expanding to "The Art of Simple Living" and "Pursuit."

The magazines are a powerful marketing tool not only because they allow companies to circumvent advertising restrictions, but also because they convey powerful lifestyle messages which ultimately support smoking.  "Real Edge" is perhaps the most striking example of this.

Like Maxim, "Real Edge: Your Guide to the Unexpected," features articles about movies, sports, sex, and video games with the overwhelming message that real men take real risks. An article about cars in one issue, for example, tells us that "cars are fast in a scary, thrilling, white-knuckle, manly way. After all, no one winds up in extreme physical therapy after his computer crashes." A few pages later, daredevil Robbie Knievel tells readers that, "even if this means risking my life for bullshit, penny ante paydays, the only thing more depressing was the thought of taking a straight job."  Alongside risk-taking, the magazine promotes the manly ideal of flouting authority.  "We're not here to tell you what to do," the editor writes, "Certainly you have enough sources for that in your life. You can make your own choices from here."

In spite of these clear messages, the magazine's publisher claims that, "the Real Edge editorial is in no way influenced by Imperial Tobacco Ltd." The New York Times, on the other hand, makes a more plausible claim about Real Edge's editorial content.  In a 1999 article, it claims that the content is governed by a strict protocol which states that, "no mention is to be made of smoking, cancer, illness of any kind, or any activity that people they are writing about engaged in when they were under the age of 21."

The scheme not only benefits the tobacco industry, but their friends in the magazine industry as well.  As legislation on tobacco-advertising has become increasingly strict, magazine publishers have lost huge amounts of revenue.  But big tobacco is making it up to them -- direct-marketing generated $650 million for the magazine industry in 1999, and is expected to make close to $1 billion in 2000.