Maxim (magazine)

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Maxim
Anna Kournikova on the cover of Maxim in 2004.
Editor
Categories	Men's
Frequency	{{{frequency}}}
Publisher	Dennis Publishing, Inc.
First Issue	1995
Country	United Kingdom, United States, others
Language	English, many others
Website	www.maximonline.com
ISSN	unknown

Maxim is an international English language lad mag based in the United Kingdom, and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models.

In the United States, Maxim is an industry leader, reporting a circulation of 2.5 million readers which they claim is enough to outsell leading competitors GQ, Esquire and Details combined. The magazine is now using the brand name to market a myriad of other magazines and projects, including a satellite radio station and a Las Vegas casino.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Expansion 3 Criticism 4 Celebrities 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Overview

The first issue of Maxim was released in the United Kingdom in May 1995 with Lisa Snowdon on the cover. The first American issue was released on April 1, 1997 with Christa Miller as the cover model.

The magazine is known for its extensive pictorials of scantily clad women. The U.S. version of the magazine, unlike foreign versions, does not allow the depiction of nipples or genitalia. In the U.S., Maxim is readily available from most newsstands and retailers. A notable exception is Wal-Mart, the country's largest retailer. Wal-Mart has gone to great lengths to promote itself as being family-friendly, and although Maxim does not contain nudity, its sexual suggestiveness caused Wal-Mart to not sell the magazine in the United States.

For the UK version, prior to 1997, the magazines seldomly used especially shot female models, these models were usually lesser known models or models that would become famous later on, for example, for the July 1996 cover, it used the Wonderbra model (at the time) Sophie Anderton. Otherwise cover photos were brought from sources, for example, it used the classic black and white photo of Ursula Andress as a reference for its Bond girl feature for its August 1995 issue. The issues at the time were mainly article heavy and before FHM made the use of scantily clad celebrities popular, coverage of scantily clad women were kept to a minimum.

Aside from pictorials, features of the magazine include short articles on subjects such as sports, movies, television, video games, fashion, relationships, cars, crime, and alcohol—subjects considered to be of interest to the magazine's primary audience of men between the ages of 21 and 45. Every issue also features extensive reviews and endorsements of new products in these fields.

Maxim competes with several lad mags including Stuff (owned by the same company) and FHM. It has proved particularly successful in the United States, and is the best-selling men's lifestyle magazine in the world^[1]. However, Maxim's sales (still very significant) in its country of origin are dwarfed by those of FHM; during the first half of 2006, FHM outsold Maxim by almost 3:1 in the UK market.^[2]

[edit] Expansion

Due to its success in its primary markets, Maxim has expanded into many other countries, including Argentina, Canada, India, Indonesia, Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic, France (marketed under "Maximal"), Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia (where it stands now as the most popular men's magazine), Serbia, Montenegro, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, and Portugal. A wireless version of the magazine was launched in 2005 across cellular carriers in twenty European and Asian countries.

In 1999, MaximOnline.com was created. It contains content not included in the print version and focuses on the same general topics, along with exclusive sections such as the "Girls of Maxim" galleries and the "Joke of the Day". "Maxim Video" contains video clips of interviews, music videos, photo shoots, and original content. The success of this website inspired Dennis Digital to create sites for its sister publications, such as Blender.

In January 2002, Dennis Publishing established an online and retail video division, Dennis Media Group.

On February 5, 2005, Maxim launched their own radio channel, Maxim Radio, on Sirius Satellite Radio.

On June 5, 2006, the magazine announced plans to build a casino on the Las Vegas Strip north of Circus Circus. Opening is planned for 2011 with construction scheduled to begin in 2007.

[edit] Criticism

The magazine has been criticized for what is seen as a chauvinistic sexist, racist slant and a lack of diversity in editorial content.^[3][4]

In 2002, the popular German football club, FC St. Pauli, removed Maxim magazine advertisements from the team's stadium in response to fan protests over the alleged sexist depictions of women in the ads ^[5].

In 2003, after receiving phone and email complaints, Maxim issued an apology for a cartoon^[6] depicting Mahatma Gandhi being beaten, kicked and bloodied. The apology did use the word "sorry" but was more of a defense than an apology, discussing that they had chosen Gandhi not because he was Indian or "of color", but because picking him as a target of aggression was ironic and akin to picking Ted Kennedy to be your designated driver.^[7] Some found the apology to be insincere. ^[8]

In 2004, Maxim was protested by the gender issues department of Thunder Bay, Ontario's Lakehead University during an on-campus "Maxim Coors Light Girl Search".^[9]

To counter the limited view of women offered in Maxim's annual "Hot 100" list, several activists and women's groups came together in 2006 to create "The Real Hot 100", an annual list featuring "young women from around the country who are breaking barriers, fighting stereotypes, and making a difference in their communities or the nation".^[10][11][12]

Maxim has also faced criticism from women like Veronica Varekova ^[13] for using their photos without permission on covers and otherwise. In January of 2006, Southern Indian actress Khushboo filed a complain with the police against the magazine for using and doctoring her image without her permission ^[14].

[edit] Celebrities

For a full listing, please see:

• List of People in Maxim Magazine 1997 to 2006, 2007-present

Many celebrities (singers, actresses, models, etc.) have posed for Maxim over the years. Examples include:

[edit] See also

• Glamour photography
• List of men's magazines
• List of People in Maxim Magazine 1997 to 2006
• Maxim Radio

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/17/60II/main584067.shtml, retrieved October 26, 2006
2. ^ http://www.abc.org.uk, retrieved October 26, 2006. Sales figures (Jan-Jun 2006) of 146,043 (Maxim) and 420,688 (FHM) may be confirmed via search.
3. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200304/brooks
4. ^ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2006/09/maxims_sh_list.html
5. ^ http://www.vfb-fanclub-berlin.de/vereine/stpauli.html
6. ^ Maxim Magazine, February 2003, p.74-78
7. ^ Maxim Magazine, April 2003, p.40
8. ^ http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=751
9. ^ http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2004/11/16227.php
10. ^ http://therealhot100.org/home
11. ^ http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2720
12. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,,1788801,00.html
13. ^ http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/05/16/supermodel_snippets_veronica_varekova_ka
14. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4666278.stm

[edit] External links

• Maxim U.S. site
• Official Maxim web site with content for mobile phones
• Maxim U.K. site