ColdWinter! (click any picture to see a larger version)
After a few seconds' thought and some careful examination, I figured out what was going on. The apparent ColdWinter cover -- complete with EGM logo, slogan and mailing label -- was just an advertisement glued on to the actual cover on the left side.
Flipping the fold-out ad-cover open makes the attachment's commercial nature a little more apparent (the below is a two-page spread, if you can't tell):
And, of course, flipping again reveals the true cover:
Having encountered a similar EGM cover attachment in the recent past, I thought I knew what to look for: namely, a big note saying "advertisement," on the front of the cover coverer. No such luck this time. Until you actually open it up, this looks like just another EGM cover that happens to feature ColdWinter and not a paid-for advertisement. I don't see this as a comforting trend (can you have a trend with only two points?). At this rate, in another few months, maybe the actual cover content will be directly bought by advertisers.
All right, that's probably an unfair exaggeration, but I still don't think this is the right direction for EGM to be going with this sort of ambiguous advertising. Your thoughts?
I agree that it's a dangerous turn. I nearly lost patience with EGM after their "remodeling" a couple of years ago - they don't need to push their subscribers' tolerance for pain any farther.
ReplyDeleteIt's especially disturbing when considering Shoe's ever-more-frequent "you can trust us" blathering in the monthly editorial. If you have to say that you're impartial, you're probably not.
The fake cover advertisement was especially irritating in light of Shoe's editorial about not accepting microsoft's free HDTV. Not only was Shoe's integrity ironic in light of the entirely capitalistic Coldwinter cover-ad-thing but.. Shoe's runs the show at EGM and he has to save for years to buy an HDTV?!?! I'm saying, if Ziff-Davis is gonna sell out, they could at least pay their editor-in-chief enough to afford a flippin television..
ReplyDeleteAs long as three people complain for every dollar was spent for that advertisement, I can anticipate it flopping and never being used again (or at least, very rarely). Magazines usually don't tend to listen to their readers when it comes to advertising and its placement, but there is something to be said about having 100+ "wtf" e-mails a week from annoyed customers.
ReplyDeleteThe last time this happened, did the advertisement show up on sealed newsstand copies? Does anyone know if that happened this time? If so, then there's definitely a problem because you're not really seeing what you're buying (it seems counterintuitive for EGM to "show" their magazine that way at newsstands anyway). Regardless, this type of advertising is still painful to see. If regular print ads aren't working, maybe they should focus more of their money on creating a quality product instead of finding new ways to say "made ya look".
ReplyDeleteMy scary vision for the future starts with little google-like ads showing up in corners, or across the top, of the real cover. That will evolve until EGM has just have enough room on the cover to print "Electronig Gaming Monthly", or worse yet, just enough for "EGM". At that point, their only option will be to paste a new "real" cover over the one with all the ads.
On a happier note, there was some good stuff in this issue. It was nice to see the juxtaposed interviews with Thompson and Jenkins, and the article about Glitchers was short but interesting. I smiled when I saw Ico at number 2 on their cult classics list thinking, "Didn't I see that on their top ten overrated games list a while back?"
It's disturbing, to say the least. I've been reading EGM for at least 8 or 9 years now, and I have noticed a progressive turn for the worse in their advertising.
ReplyDeleteInstead of having regular ads dotted here and there, they now have full page ads inserted on hard paper, then about 2 or 3 full page ads consecutively on the regular paper.
They're also starting to advertise way outside of gaming. Before they'd have an anime ad or an ad for some gadget, but now they have ads for Axe and all the other little "hipster" (don't make me laugh)things out there.
Timmay!
That's rather deceptive and pretty obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteIt's annoying but I don't know that it's entirely deceptive. If it's deceptive, what were you misled to believe? That ColdWinter was the cover for EGM? What impact did this have on you? Especially considering that once you flipped the page you noticed the real cover? And it was easily removed?
ReplyDeleteI also found this comment utterly bizarre:
They're also starting to advertise way outside of gaming
This is a Good Thing; gaming is being treated more mainstream and advertisers are taking advantage. This bodes well for both the industry and the rags that write about it.
I continue to believe that Hsu is doing some great things at the magazine, if not at a slow pace.
--T.
>I continue to believe that Hsu is doing some great things at the magazine, if not at a slow pace.
ReplyDeleteThen why isn't he paid enough so that he doesnt have to save for years to buy an HDTV? That blows my mind, I always figured that he was paid a good 6 figures.
First of all, I hope it's clear that I don't think this sort of advertising reflects at all on the editorial content, which I feel has been pretty good of late.
ReplyDeleteIt's deceptive mainly because it's an ad that 1) features EGM's logo, (unlike every other ad in the magazine) and 2) is not labeled as an advertisement when it sits in a place where it could easily be mistaken for editorial content (at least at first glance). If they fixed these two problems, I wouldn't have nearly as much problem with it.
And video game journalists get paid SQUAT, no matter their level.
Maybe it's stating the obvious, but the reason why it matters is because, ultimately, deception is lying. And lying is one of the worst ethical violations you can commit, journalist or otherwise. Ads placed in such a way that the readers will think the main story is about Coldwater are essentially lying to readers, if only for the moment or two it takes them to flip through to the real cover.
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe it goes without saying, but there's a good chance the editorial staff (writers and such) had little to no say in the placing of that ad. Even in magazines, advertising makes the majority of the profit for it.
Video games going mainstream has been one of my concerns for a while now. I'm not entirely opposed to the idea, but what I don't like about mainstream is all the crap that can just be thrown in because people have money and they think they have good ideas.
ReplyDeleteWhen EGM started featuring car ads and bugging me incessantly about resubscribing, I thought, "screw it. Why bother to keep paying for a magazine that a) is becoming too mainstream/sucky in general and b) has most of their articles online?"
ReplyDeleteEvery second page in the damn magazine is already advertisements, I see they've moved on from the "half cover" ad inserts they used to have to a full cover of obnoxious shit.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, they keep badgering me twice a month to resubscribe.
The editorial about Hsu rejecting the HDTV? If the rumours are true, Microsoft didn't give the HDTVs to members of the press, only developers. If they're not, it's still a really cheap attempt considering they're willing to whore themselves out as a whole for pretty much every other advertisement out there.
I just want to be the first to say this: God, that Zelda cover is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the more rediculous advertising ploys i've ever seen. What point do they really try to get across by doing it this way, and if any thing only doing so in their through mail versions of their mags.
ReplyDeleteI've seen different covers for the mail and store versions of mags before, usually to promote the same game in an almost specail edition sort of way. but a stick on ad for another game to cover over the cover of a game every one really wants to see.. thats ludicris.. if it were just peice of paper floating in the wrapping like most mags do it would be ok but EGM's new idea is just annoying. I hope the coldwinter people payed enough for this
I don't think this is such a big surprise. I remember when Half-Life 2 was being pumped up for E3 2004, there was some issue with British PC Gamer putting HL2 on the cover and then not running much of an article, promising more info the next month.
ReplyDeleteThe editor posted a letter online saying that their agreement with Valve was that they would get a playtest and "exclusive" preview on the condition that they put HL2 on the cover. Their issue went to press before the HL2 NDA was lifted, so they had to run the full cover without any of the new info. They couldn't move the cover, because KOTOR2 already had the cover for the next month.
These aren't reporting decisions, they are all business. The EGM false cover is just another step along the same road. This way they can promise Zelda and Cold Winter the cover.
99% of magazine covers are in all intents and purposes ads anyway. A Darth Vader cover on Wired is just another is just another "impression" to raise awareness for the Revenge of the Sith theatrical release.
ReplyDeleteLook at your newsstand. Pick out the celebrity or product on the covers and understand that every one is on the front that magazine because they have some sort of launch or release occuring that month. We're not talking about apples and oranges here. Both the ads and the articles inside our pop culture magazines are part of the promotional machinery.
Just curious, how much front cover ad space goes for?
ReplyDeleteIf its for as much as I think it is, then I don't think the editors have much say in the fact.
The silly thing about being all high-and-mighty about the HDTV giveaway at GDC is that it was a random drawing for everyone who attended the keynote.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how a member of the press winning a TV in that context is an ethical problem.
But if it makes them sound more ethically pure, go EGM.
"These aren't reporting decisions, they are all business. The EGM false cover is just another step along the same road. This way they can promise Zelda and Cold Winter the cover."
ReplyDeleteWhile it's true that these are business decisions, it's not a matter of promising Zelda and Cold Winter the cover. In this case, Cold Winter isn't the cover. It's merely an ad that looks like a cover, one that can and will be removed.
The only issue here is using the logo on the ad; that's tacky.
What other industry does this anyway? I can't think of one.
ReplyDeleteSomeone brought up this month's wired. It certainly is, somewhere, part of someone's campaign. But I think you're mistaking timliness for advertising. Of course Wired wants to have George Lucas on the cover; his movie will be the biggest movie of May, if not the summer.
Besides, there's a fair amount of content - good content actually - inside Wired on Lucas.
Can that be said of Cold Winter in EGM? No, because the real cover story is Zelda.
A cover is a cover. You can only have one, period. If Cold Winter wants a cover, they should express such thoughts and contact the Magazene. If there is no reason to put them on the cover, it should not be permmited, period.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion...this is lame. A bad move for EGM
Yes, the real cover story is Zelda. But it's as if EGM is asshamed and covers the cover story. As I said, one cover, one cover.
I already started ripping out the ads out of EGM a ONG time ago. So when I realized the cold Winter thing was just an ad, that went in the trash too.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like what they're doing, stop buying and reading the magazine, simple as that. if enough people stop buying it, they'll get the message.