Analysing Magazines

I have chosen the ‘teen’ magazine Sugar to write about and analyse, although it is no longer being produced.

The title ‘Sugar’ is used because it is a fun-sounding word that will entice the magazines target audience to buy the magazine. It has connotations such as sweets, fun, and happy things.

Sugar was first published by Attic Futura, and then taken over by Hachette Filipacchi in 2002. Attic Futura is said to also produce 4 other monthly magazines (http://www.magforum.com/magazinepublishers.htm). Sugar also has a website (www.sugarscape.com), which also included celebrity gossip etc. and was seen as an extension to the magazine. Sugar costs just £2.30, and it was published monthly.

Sugar’s target audience is teenage girls, looking for advice on boys, seeking celebrity gossip or fashion tips. It also includes an advice column which readers can write into to ask questions about whatever it is they’re worrying about, be it relationships or puberty. Sugar also includes a separate ‘Lad Mag’ with tips and advice on the male gender and relationships, including posters and gossip on male celebrities.

On the cover of the magazine, there is almost always a picture of a female celebrity with a smile slapped on her face. On this cover in particular, (the picture above) Roxanne McKee, an actress from ‘Hollyoaks’ fills the cover of the magazine. The body language shown from Roxanne is quite flirty, she wears a heavily jewelled necklace that is given edited sparkle, and she is wearing a bright purple dress. This sums up the material inside; Boys, Celebrities and Fashion.

Written across the front in big red letters is ‘It’s A Fashion Frenzy – Say hello to your perfect party style. 285 instant tricks for A-list glam’, then small pictures of accessories are shown at the bottom with the prices next to them. This is all used to draw in the reader and capture their attention.

There are three ‘real-life’ stories down the left hand side; all written to entice the reader and again, capture attention. ‘Bullied into boob jobs’ and ‘No arms, no legs, but I love him’ are two of the things written. All these titles are written in red to stand out.

On the bottom right, a big yellow star has the words ‘£4,530 of free stuff!’ and then the ‘Sugarscape’ website written below. This is a way of advertising the website – showing a big sum of money, mentioning the word ‘free’ and then telling you where to go to get the ‘free stuff’.

The cover has the typical style of a fashion magazine.

The magazine’s presentation is short and sweet. It doesn’t have a lot of writing on the cover, just little bits to give an indication of what’s inside. It has mostly larger writing, so that it catches your attention. It uses a range of easily readable fonts and bright colours. It also uses some pictures. It doesn’t look cheap or expensive, but it is given a glossy, thick cover so that makes it look more expensive. Compared to other magazines, it is probably about average looks-wise.

Sugar has a ‘casual’ tone throughout the magazine, so that makes it easy to read and it makes you feel as though you are actually being spoken to. It includes features like; ‘Write here’ – a double page where readers can write in or send in pictures, and on the same page is ‘Your rating, Your hating’ – a strip on the side that has a few things that have been popular or unpopular over the last month. It usually has a few real life stories in the middle, sections on fashion, boys etc. and then at the back a section called ‘Ask me anything’, where they interview a celebrity using questions readers have sent in, and the celeb is given two passes to not answer the questions.

The advertisements included in Sugar are usually things like perfumes, lipsticks and general cosmetics. Things such as ‘chick flick’ DVD’s are also advertised. But throughout the whole magazine clothes and makeup are advertised when they are talked about, advised to buy and given prices next to them in pictures. Generally on actual adverts prices aren’t given, but on the makeup and clothes the prices range from around £3-£50. The adverts are all aimed at teenage girls, and are featured because that is the stereotype of what most teenage girls are interested in. The models relate to the target audience by being younger models themselves, so they show off the clothes how they would actually look; instead of dressing up an old woman.

Most men and women shown in Sugar are celebrities so because of this Sugar represents women as being glamorous, and men stylish. There are very few stereotypes shown in Sugar (apart from the whole overall stereotype of all girls being interested in fashion, makeup and clothes etc.). The female representation relates because they are probably seen as a role model to most young girls. The male representation has less of an impact, but maybe they are seen as what girls are supposed to be attracted to, only men who have that sort of look. Children are rarely seen in this magazine, and if so they are portrayed in a negative way such as teenage pregnancy. This is probably to limit the amount of teenage pregnancy. If baby’s were shown in a positive way, it might increase the want for them from teenagers. Also, older women rarely appear in Sugar, probably because teenagers have less of an interest in older women as less have such a strong fashion sense or have less on an impact on the media.

Sugar’s competitions with other magazines are generally other teen magazines such as ‘Bliss’. This is because they are so similar, both having the same sort of material; boys, fashion, celebrities. Bliss costs the same price aswell, being on the market for £2.30.

I think Sugar was so popular because it was somewhere teenage girls could look and ask questions and find answers to questions they didn’t want to ask their parents. It was something they could read and find out latest fashion, and read about boys. It was a girl’s best friend when she needed it, and that was what Sugar offered. Friendly advice, and lots of gossip!