Andrew Ramirez

Professor Nichols

COMM 100s Section 203

15 July 2015

Men’s Health vs. Women’s Health: Is there a difference?

            When looking at a magazine certain things catch our eye. The bold print, the vibrant colors, celebrities on the cover, all of these elements are ways that magazine companies draw you in and make you want to buy. But is there more to this technique? The answer is yes, magazine companies use different strategies to attract different audiences, which in turn lead to members of that audience buying the magazine. Ads in magazines function the same way; each ad in the magazine is used in a certain way to capture that audience’s attention and eventually their pocket books. Gender is one of these audiences and magazines have figured out that women are attracted to different magazines or magazine ads than men are. This is plainly evident in a comparison between Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazine. These magazines target different demographics, cover “news” in different ways, present similar and different ads, portray certain biases, and use different visuals to capture their target audience’s attention.

Magazine producers do hours and hours of research on their audiences in order to find the best ways to get your money in their pockets. One of the most simple of these strategies is to know the demographics of your audience. For Men’s Health, the audience is primarily white men. While there are certain ads and articles that contain African Americans or men from other races, the vast majority of these articles and ads portray extremely fit white men. The men in these ads and articles also show which age Men’s Health is trying to target. The median age of Men’s Health is about forty years old. Men’s Health uses this age group in their photographs in order to show a relation between their ads and their audiences. When a forty year old man sees in Men’s Health a man around his age in fantastic shape, he wonders “why not me?” That question sparks the reader’s attention and makes him want to read more and find out how this person got to be in such great shape. The ads and articles also show what type of salary the audience is expected to be making. Ads that show a Ford Edge or a Mazda display that the audience is not expected to be able to afford the BMW or Mercedes Benz. With that being said the approximate salary of a Men’s Health subscriber would be about $80,000 a year. Men’s Health’s ads and articles portray exactly who they want their target audience to be.

Women’s Health has a different target audience but uses almost all the same techniques. Women’s Health targets white active, women. Like Men’s Health, Women’s Health has primarily white women in their ads. The median age group for Women’s Health is thirty-three years old. The salary of the audience can also be compared to those of Men’s Health. Typically the salaries range to about $80,000 a year. This can be concluded because literally the exact same Mazda and Ford ads can be found in both Women’s Health and Men’s Health. With that being said one can also conclude that Women’s Health is directed toward an audience of a Men’s Health type too.

Using and identifying the audience’s demographics is just one way that magazine producers reel in their audiences. Men’s and Women’s Health have one key factor that is different than any other magazine; they don’t show news. There is a complete absence of any current events or articles regarding news. Both magazines focus solely on the fitness and nutrition aspects of their audience’s. They do not include news in any of their ads, articles, or pictures. This is quite odd considering it is one of the most popular magazines for men and women. However, the title is about health and fitness so including any sort of news articles or current events would just not seem to fit right in a magazine like this. With that being said it is once again quite odd to find no sort of news in either of these magazines.

            Men’s Health and Women’s Health also portray ads in similar and different ways in order to capture your attention and make you want to buy their magazine. Both of these magazines use ads that show the same gender using certain products. For example in Men’s Health ads show extremely muscular men lifting weights. Next to that man is a container of protein powder advertising that their product will get results. Using the same gender to advertise products allows for that ever famous question “why not me?” Therefore by using men in Men’s Health magazine readers can compare themselves to people who are like them, and could actually be them. The same concept is used in Women’s Health magazine. One such ad in Women’s Health shows a typical women running and smiling while part of the ad shows her eating a multivitamin that promotes energy and brain health. This ad shows that people just like the audience are taking multivitamins and are exercising, so why aren’t you?

Magazine companies also use people of the opposite gender to promote products in ads. In Men’s Health you are almost certain to find a stunning women in a bikini telling you to eat your vegetables. For example in Men’s Health there is an ad that shows a women in a tight black dress holding a peanut listing reasons why they’re good for you and why you should eat them. Ads like these are also present in Women’s Health magazine. In Women’s Health one such ad is of a very fit male athletic trainer promoting Degree antiperspirant while also talking about ways to do the perfect push-up. Ads like these, that have the opposite sex in them, attract the attention of the audience mainly because they are extremely attractive people and you don’t realize that you’re reading about the product just because they are in the ad. Magazine producers and ad creators do research on these strategies to determine just what type of ad will draw the most attention and draw the most buyers.

No matter which form of media is involved, bias is sure to find its way into it. It is nearly impossible to not implant any sort of bias into a publication. Books, newspapers, magazines, television, and even the radio all have some sort of bias in them. Men’s and Women’s Health are no different and are not immune to bias. Take Men’s Health for example, almost every ad in the magazine is of a white man. Very rarely do you see an ad with an African American or an Asian in the picture. Equally as rare are Hispanics, Indians, or Native Americans. The entirety of the magazine shows white men. With that being said, white men are the target audience of this magazine so of course they are going to include primarily white males in their magazine, but that does not mean there is an absence of clear bias.

Women’s Health is also not immune to interjecting bias into their magazine. Women’s Health is also primarily showcasing white women. Much the same as Men’s Health, people of color or other ethnic/racial groups are almost rare to be seen in this magazine. Once again, the audience of this magazine is primarily white women so it is not surprising to see primarily white women in their ads and articles.

Finally, both of these magazines use different visual components that jump out at the reader. Unlike before, this does not mean primarily targeting the opposite or same sex. This means the way the visual elements are presented to the audience in pictures, words, or even colors. The cover page of magazines is the key place to see these elements. Men’s Health magazine uses celebrities on the cover of almost all of their magazines. Next to these celebrities are their “secrets” to obtaining sexy bodies. For example this edition of Men’s Health magazine shows Chris Pratt on the cover and he gives you his plan to lose you belly. Throwing a well-known face on the cover of a magazine makes audience’s want to buy that magazine. Also on the cover page of Men’s Health are vibrant colors of text that draw the reader’s eyes to the wording. For example, the words “Red-Hot Summer” are presented in a eye catching red that pops out to the reader making them want to find out more.

Women’s Health is no different with their techniques. Instead of Chris Pratt’s body being on the cover, they throw the stunning Julianne Hough in a swimsuit on the cover telling the audience how to get “your best butt”. The presence of a celebrity on the cover once again adds to that star power effect to a magazine. Their presence makes the reader want to divulge into the magazine and learn how to look just like Julianne Hough. The font on the cover of Women’s Health is also a unique element used to draw in the audience. The font of “Beach Reads!” presents a more relaxed and calm emotion to the magazine that portrays the feeling of summer.

In conclusion I would regard Men’s and Women’s Health extremely effective at presenting their content to their audience. Not only do I deem them effective at presenting information but also I deem that extremely effective at identifying and drawing in their audience. Men’s and Women’s Health are two massive magazine companies that have millions of subscribers each year. Fitness will never go away and people will always want to be in better shape. Men’s and Women’s Health identify those people and go right after them by including articles and ads that will specifically draw those people in. There are many elements of a magazine that are used to draw in their audiences, whether it’s the presence of celebrities, font, color, or the headlines. Magazine companies put in countless hours of research to identify their top targets. I deem Men’s and Women’s Health to be experts in this task which does justice to why they are such a successful magazine company.