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FHM strains to reach the non-lads

Posted in Media, Oliver Milman August 3rd, 2007 by Oliver Milman

FHM, once the king of all lads’ magazines, has found its position under threat in recent years from rivals published both monthly and weekly, as well as distractions such as the internet. Hence this month’s revamp – but will it work in dragging back the pint-swilling hordes?

It’s fair to say that FHM has been slow to react to the threat posed by Nuts and Zoo, the weekly smutfests that have enjoyed soaring circulations in recent times. If you can get a weekly fix of nude babes and leery banter, why wait for the more expensive monthly version?

The Emap mag has also been squeezed by the more upmarket offerings such as Esquire and GQ. Laddism isn’t dead, as such, it’s just that this generation also wants nice consumerables and has concerns such as mortgages and marriage, rather than just booze and bonking.

Finally, FHM has reacted. But how much has actually changed? From the look of the cover, adorned by popstrel Rachel Stevens, albeit t-shirted, not much. But the editor’s letter hints at what the mag is trying to achieve – previous editorial staff have been lured back, with new features trumpeted.

There is also a ominous ‘Under new management’ banner on the front cover, suggesting that a departure from the recent past lurks within.

The design has been tweaked, but it more clean and functional rather than eye-catching. The advertisers are fairly standard too – various aftershave brands, Setanta Sport hyping its Premiership coverage, Topman and Adidas, to name a few.

There is no noticeable increase in the amount of ads within the mag, or a shift upmarket in this area. However, it will take time to shift the FHM brand from the rut it’s currently stuck in – the mag won’t be able to lure some of the obscure German watchmakers and snooty fashion labels that are splashed over the likes of GQ for the foreseeable future.

The biggest shift is in the features. Interviews with pin-ups are still of the “Do you ever walk around the house naked?” variety, but you can sense a reader education process going on.

There’s a beginners’ guide to high fashion, introducing readers to the likes of Alexander McQueen and Miuccia Prada. There is greater coverage for technology and food and there’s a very sensible booklet on getting the most out of the internet, other than downloading porn.

New columnists include a group of centurions – venerable old men who have reached three figures in age. Thankfully for these men deep into bus pass age, the questions fired at them aren’t of the usual schoolboy nature usually associated with FHM – instead they get queries on marriage and travelling.

The laddism is still there, of course. There’s a solid five pages of sex-related classifieds and a ridiculous feature on a foot/vagina hybrid. The yawn-inducing ‘wacky injury’ pictures, flogged to death by Nuts/Zoo, are still there, but on page 195.

In many ways, this is a return to what FHM used to be – girls and humour, but with the occasional reason to pause on a page for more than a few seconds for a proper read.

The mix isn’t quite there yet – the bawdiness clashes somewhat with the more thoughtful, almost creating a split FHM personality from page to page. But it’s a strategy that’s long overdue – time will tell if readers and advertisers can be won back or if they have abandoned the magazine for good.