I Hope This Is A New Trend

Because I personally hate those stupid subscription cards in magazines.

For magazines, subscription cards long have been a double-edged sword. The palm-size slips of thick paper are a cheap, reliable way to win new readers. But their habit of tumbling out of magazines tends to drive people crazy.

In its latest marketing effort, Philips Electronics is paying Hearst $2 million to eliminate the cards from the September issues of four Hearst titles — Redbook, O At Home, Weekend and House Beautiful. Each magazine will instead run a two-page Philips ad with the line “Simplicity is not having subscription cards fall out of your magazine.” The ads give information about Philips-branded Web sites, created specially for the promotion, where readers can subscribe to the magazines.

The first thing I generally do when I get a magazine in the mail is shake them loose, and the pull the ones out that are attached. It makes reading the magazine so much easier when you don’t have to press down half of it so your pages are automatically turning.

Thanks Barn for the link.