We've been close for well over fifteen years. You inspired me to dream and you inspired me to appreciate the little luxuries in life, I spent many hours oogling your gorgeous shopping pages - crying with laughter at some of your true features and learning how to dress, apply make up and sort my womanly troubles such as how to help PMS, how to tell if a boy likes you and how to dress to get that job.
You've been there for me when I've been ill tucked up in bed with no-where to go and you've been there for me through many art projects where I've snipped away at your typography. You've also helped me with my fear of spiders on so many occasions when no-one else was - rolling up your magazine to give those terrifying beasties a hefty whack I knew you'd always come through ensuring the spider didn't attack me later on in the night.
When I felt fat and frumpy when I fell pregnant with each of my sons you inspired me to remain confident that I would one day fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothing and you taught me what skincare products worked well for my hormonal skin. I tried to forget you in place of parenting magazines and I'm sorry for that but like two ends of a magnet you drew me back swiftly into your arms without judging me.
You evolved taking me with you. Those eco-friendly handbag sized magazines made life easier for both of us, you continually offered new ways of doing things and never failed to think of new ways of doing things which kept our relationship fresh and exciting. When Marie Claire changed the rest of the magazine world changed along with you. You never became hoity-toighty like some other magazines and you respected your readers.
I wanted to ask what happened to you this year? did something happen to make you change? Did you grow bored of us readers or did you just stop caring a little? Even though you changed I still continued to subscribe - I'd stopped visiting your website because it took an age to even read a page due to pop-up's and pop-under ad's which were infuriating.
This month I received my magazine, flicking through it last night I was shocked and I suppose irate to find that I had to flick to page 48 before I even read a feature! The first 48 pages where all adverts and paid features. I decided to look even further thinking that maybe you'd popped all of your ad's at the front so us dedicated readers could enjoy the magazine thoroughly but NO, this wasn't the case.
There are 386 pages in your latest issue. Of those pages there are ONLY 158 pages of readable features, taking in mind this still includes shopping pages and fashion pages that include paid placements but 158 pages are absolutely shocking! That leaves 228 pages of adverts, placements and paid pages. It seems clear that you no longer care about us readers and have taken to making your money from paid ads and placements.
As a blogger, I totally get supplementing your income from adverts and paid placements but to the extreme, you have taken it is absolutely shocking. There comes a point where it stops being fair to your paying readers and just plain crosses so many lines. If I wanted to pay for a book of ad's I would have just come on-line to browse them for free. That's your website AND your magazine that has become more of a place for companies to place ads rather than interesting content and fresh stories which you were once known for.
If it's money that you're struggling with why don't you think of something new that would increase your readership? why not utilise us bloggers in offering you new features or advertising? There comes a point in every relationship where you can only hope that someone will change, realising that you maybe wasting your time and cutting your loses is never easy but I simply cannot fork out for a magazine that offers me nothing new and includes more than half a magazine of adverts and product placements.
Please come back to us Marie Claire, we miss you!
Yours,
Elyse
Your old BFF.
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