OT hot rod rant OT

[Plymouthy Adams]

friend just dropped a copy of the April 2011 Hot Rod on my desk..has a DeSoto hybrid wagon on the cover...goes down hill from there...poor ole Randy did not even get his name spelled right...saw that, dropped the mag and went for something a lot more enjoyable..hot cup of fresh perked Folgers coffee...even this octane is going through the roof in prices..

[Don Coatney]

I first subscribed to hot rod magazine in 1962 when I was in high school. In those days there were more articles than advertisments and the articles were usually about home built hot rods. I still have most of these magazines and on occasion pull them out and re-read them.

About 12 years ago I had a nephew who was having a magazine drive at school so I once again subscribed and I think it was around twenty bucks a year through the school sales. The magazines now had 2-3 articles and the rest was advertisments. And the articles were all about using the products that the advitisers were trying to sell in the magazine. The subscription expired a year later and I continued to get the magazine for 3-4 months and each copy warned me my subscription was about to expire and I should re-new NOW. I ignored these warnings and one day I got a phone call. They told me I could re-new my subscription for around 4 bucks a year. So I sent them 8 bucks to get them off my back. I now have a stack of these 5-6 year old magazines that I have never opened the cover to read anything. I let my subscription expire 5 years or so ago and to this day I still get mail from them wanting me to once again join in the fun.

My point is this magazine only exists today to sell advertisment space. The sell this space baced on the circulation rate of the magazine. So the more subscribers they claim to have the more they can charge the vendors per page of asvertisments. My guess is I am still counted as one of there subscribers.

[randroid]

Gents,

I did a little lightweight snooping and found advertising for Hot Rod to be estimated at $45, 600 for a full page B&W ad. There are nine articles and eight regular features in the May, 2011 issue and if each one of them took three pages then how many pages are left for ads? Better yet, how much money dare they extract before more folks get really tired of all that sifting to find an article? I bet they don't number all the pages to make it necessary to do a lot of page turning to find an article. Got to make sure the stockholders are happy.

-Randy

[gillettealvin]

" . . . My point is this magazine only exists today to sell advertisement space. "

I totally agree with Don C. on this. I would venture that most magazines these days are hanging by a thread, thanks to the Internet, mostly.

But, Hot Rod Magazine has become a really bad joke over the years. To be sure, Mr. Robert Petersen would roll over in his grave if he could see the pap that is being pushed by these bottom line motivated idiots. I, too, stopped a subscription some time in the early 70's, and for awhile, picked it up on the stands. Not for long, though. It was then, and I suspect is now, as Don points out, a catalog for advertiser's parts. The "car views" expressed are so far removed from my own that it may as well be from another world.

My two cents. GA

[TodFitch]

...snip...My point is this magazine only exists today to sell advertisment space. The sell this space baced on the circulation rate of the magazine. So the more subscribers they claim to have the more they can charge the vendors per page of asvertisments. My guess is I am still counted as one of there subscribers.

I think the more general statement is that businesses exist to make money.

For periodicals (newspapers and magazines) generally, but not always, get most of their income is from advertisements. There are a few magazines out there that get the bulk of their income from subscriptions (Skinned Knuckles appears to be one), but for most magazines the only point of the "editorial content" is to be sufficient to deliver the ads (i.e. get you to buy or subscribe).

Gents,

I did a little lightweight snooping and found advertising for Hot Rod to be estimated at $45, 600 for a full page B&W ad. There are nine articles and eight regular features in the May, 2011 issue and if each one of them took three pages then how many pages are left for ads? Better yet, how much money dare they extract before more folks get really tired of all that sifting to find an article? I bet they don't number all the pages to make it necessary to do a lot of page turning to find an article. Got to make sure the stockholders are happy.

-Randy

I've heard that advertisers generally require that their ads be unmodified by the magazine publisher. The result of this is that a full page ad cannot/will not be over printed with page number information. Since the majority of most magazines pages are ads, the majority of pages will not have page numbers.

[randroid]

Gents,

Just so there's no misunderstanding, I'm a hard-core capitalist and I wish every business, large or small, the very best in maximizing their profits. The current trend in business, however, seems to be everyone becoming Bill Gates, and that spells disaster for those who think they deserve it.

"It's my money and I want it now!

Without a solid foundation behind any business, anybody who invests expecting a quick and profitable return would be better off sending their money directly to me, thereby guaranteeing no return and taking any guesswork out of the equation.

-Randy

[greg g]

I can easily beat Randy's offer. Send my your extra money and I will return a gauranteed 50% back to you. NO Questions Asked.

[Flatie46]

I used to buy alot of car mags but anymore there are very few that appeal to me. I have learned alot over the years though the tech articals or at least sparked ideas. Hot rod has been a good magazine in the past. Up to the late 70's early 80's it was worth it's news stand price. Now it's ok for the doc's office or passin' time while waiting on your prescription to be filled. I've checked out some of the earlier issues and thought they were pretty darn good.

Don, feel free to put me down in your will for those old Hot Rod mags.

[Don Coatney]

I think the more general statement is that businesses exist to make money.

Tod;

As usual you are correct. I should have re-worded my opinions to reflect such.

Gents,

Without a solid foundation behind any business, anybody who invests expecting a quick and profitable return would be better off sending their money directly to me, thereby guaranteeing no return and taking any guesswork out of the equation.

-Randy

I must admit that Randy is correct. I have been sending him my wealth of nothing for years and his guarantee is as good as the letters it is written with.

[Plymouthy Adams]

when it comes to advertising..I think the new format Reader's Digest gets the award...first..the Readers Digest was known for the "condesed version" it is now a condensed version of its old self. Next is the advertisements...yes anywhere form 4 to 9 pages in a row...and appear about every other page in that sequence..

[Al B. Bach]

I used to read Hot Rod years ago but I got sick and tired of the content. Sure, every now and then they cover a cool car and maybe a decent tech article but I just got fed up with all the Chevys! You've seen one 60's Camaro and you've pretty much seen them all. For the rare occasion that they have another make it's almost always a Mustang or a Mopar muscle car. Obviously I'm exaggerating a bit but where's the cool business coupes or the shoe box's and other more unique cars and trucks?

[Plymouthy Adams]

the pin up girls of the 50's was probably the only redeeming aspect of the issue...for nostalgic reason only did I bother to scan over them there pages... honest..boy has times changed...

[Don Coatney]

the pin up girls of the 50's was probably the only redeeming aspect of the issue......

I would truely enjoy looking at the pin up girls of the 50's. I would hope (as I have not looked at this newly released issue of hot rod magazine) that these pictures are indeed pin up girls of the 50's and not the modern pretenders that are seen in many publications today. In the 50's tattoos were mostly displayed by WW2 soldiers and I do not recall ever seeing such displays on ladies in the 50's. No offence to anyone is intended in this posting. I am just stating the history as I recall it.

[Flatie46]

Just got my June issue of Hot Rod...I happen to enjoy looking thru them and have since, like forever and will probably continue to enjoy them. Like everything else, they have changed over time.

Anyway, back to the June issue. Anyone that has replyed to this thread;

DONT GET THIS ISSUE.

You have been warned.

How about if I don't get it. I just darn near read it cover to cover in the bookstore for free like the cheapskate I am.