Rodale title Men’s Health will issue Men’s Health Living as a newsstand special on December 4.
Although Rodale keeps an extensive database and often deploys direct marketing for its magazine launches, the 400,000 copies of Living will be sold at newsstands only. The glossy features ads from luxury brands such as Calvin Klein Home and Armani/Casa.
Living, a Rodale spokeswoman said, is just one of many single-issue specials published by Rodale each year and is not intended as a full spin-off of Men’sHealth. “It’s just a newsstand special,” she insisted. “We do 25 per year across all magazines, and we’re not planning to do another.” She declined further comment.
However, some media pundits, citing the strength of the Rodale brand and the company’s tendency to test numerous issues of magazines before fully committing, suspect Living might be around for the long haul.
Parent title Men’sHealth posted a rate base increase of 33% this year, and ad pages went up by more than 22%. Men’sHealthUK debuted its version of Living last month. The UK Living is now available on US newsstands.
Bill Phillips, executive editor at Men’sHealth, served as editor of Living, and David Zinczenko, Men’sHealth editor-in-chief and Rodale VP, oversaw production of the new title.
