BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Living Simply Real Simple Magazine

I just had dinner with some friends and brought along that issue to pass on - nobody wanted it. One woman said she had a subscription because she liked the TV show, but while she really enjoys the tv show she was amazed at the high ad volume (of inappropriate ads) in the magazine. So she's not going to renew.

It's really odd - why wouldn't they have ads for things like hemp bags in there? Things that promote the message they're trying to send? I get a yoga magazine and I love the ads in the yoga magazine, they would seem a natural fit for a "living simply" magazine too.

The sad reality is that all magazines are simply advertising vehicles and we are a consumer driven society so it works for them.

My approach is to take what works and let the rest go. I think Real Simple provides some good recipes and tips for helping people get dinner on the table which I appreciate. Most of their recipes are available for free on their website.

The truth is that I can learn a lot more about living simply by spending an afternoon with my 92-year-old grandmother than I can ever get from Real Simple magazine!

That's definitely true! Those 90-year-old grandma's should get together and make a magazine!!!

That is an awesome idea - it would help promote the idea that elderly people have important wisdom. Right now we often "shunt" people of a certain age off into isolation buildings and rarely see them again! Think of how much we could all learn if our communities interacted more!

I would love to see internet stations in every senior center, at least, to encourage the seniors to talk, share, and be heard by others.

I used to love Real Simple. I was with them right from day one of the magazine. At first, they were just what you were saying, Lisa. I used to eat them like candy.

Then over the years they morphed. The clothing articles make zero sense to me. They became much more mainstream and lost my interest.

I do enjoy reading them when my MIL gives me a used copy of hers, for example, but I would never buy another new one again.

Maybe they changed owners along the way, or perhaps they had to make these changes to keep up with what they perceived people wanting. I don't want to blame them, but it is so true that over the years they lost the spark they began with.

I get other magazines that have ads I love - for hemp clothes and grocery bags and so on - so I know the advertisers are out there. I would guess it comes down to their desire for high profit from the high paying clothing / perfume ads. I can't imagine the hemp clothing people for example are saying "we don't want to advertise in that magazine! That is not in our interest area!"

Lisa or Jill, Have either of you seen Good, the magazine?

I get that and it is all about the sustainability of the world,the "hooking in" to worldly internet, clothing and shoes made by sustainable and responsible companies. It's cool and they donate your subscription costs to the company you choose, educational, like Heffer International you know stuff like that. It's very cool and very thought provoking.

Mary Caliendo
Tea

I've not heard of that - I'll take a look for it! I adore Heifer and donate to them.

Actually, I hope they can survive in business in fact, I think that largely everything is donated. Monies, supplies etc. I hope they can make it. It's different and they claim it's a magazine for people who care and give da**, about our world.
And want to make a difference.

Mary Caliendo
Tea

Wow, that sounds like a wonderful magazine. I will check it out.