Mag Bag: 'People' Sexiest Man Alive Issue Overview

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It’s that time of year again --  when People, the definitive source for all celebrity news and related superficiality, crowns the “Sexiest Man Alive.” While there are some obvious methodological questions beyond the scope of this article, broadly speaking the SMA award is a good indicator of what masses of American women consider attractive. This year: strippers!
 
Yes, the Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 is Channing Tatum, who started his career as a male stripper in Florida and then achieved fame by playing a male stripper in “Magic Mike." In 2012, he also starred with Jonah Hill in a comedic remake of “21 Jump Street,” and as the long-suffering husband of an amnesiac Rachel McAdams in “The Vow.” After a prolific year looking hunky in a variety of contexts, Tatum is a natural choice for People’s Thanksgiving man-turkey.
 
As always, People’s coverage aims to play female readers like a giant collective fiddle, portraying the SMA as an implausible combination of passionate artist, fun-loving jock, smoldering romantic and attentive house-husband. Thus: “The Alabama-bred star reveals he’s a sculptor and a romantic who loves giving massages to his wife,” Jenna. They have matching tattoos they got on their honeymoon in Bali. Also, he doesn’t like to be apart from his wife for more than two or three weeks, or he gets “pouty.” And sometimes he cries during "The Biggest Loser" because he feels for the contestants. He can cook, and if he could be better at one thing, it would be to “read my wife’s mind all the time.” Oh good lord.
 
For those with a sexy historical bent, last year, Jack Moore at Buzzfeed helpfully rounded up a list of all the previous “Sexiest Man Alive” issues. People’s complex sexy-algorithm has produced some interesting choices, at least at the beginning, before they tweaked the formula.
 
In chronological order, they are: Mel Gibson (1985); Mark Harmon, of "St. Elsewhere" fame (1986); Harry Hamlin, of "L.A. Law" fame (1987); John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1988); Sean Connery, “older, balder, and better!” (1989); Tom Cruise, with incipient craziness already showing (1990): Patrick Swayze, with what can only be described as "Charlie’s Angels" hair (1991); Nick Nolte -- just inexplicable (1992); Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford, who is not a man, as the Sexiest Couple Alive, a special one-off in (1993); no award in 1994, a famously un-sexy year; Brad Pitt, looking like a bit of a dirtbag (1995); Denzel Washington, the first (and so far only) African-American to take the title (1996); George Clooney, looking smug as hell (1997); Harrison Ford, a bit past his Han Solo prime (1998); Richard Gere, again, sans Crawford (1999); Brad Pitt, weirdly intense (2000); Pierce Brosnan (2001); Ben Affleck, in what was clearly a different time (2002); Johnny Depp (2003); Jude Law (2004); Matthew McConaughey, exerting his strange, vacant fascination on American women (2005); Clooney, somehow even smugger (2006); Matt Damon, not looking particularly sexy at all (2007): Hugh Jackman (2008); Depp again (2009); Ryan Reynolds (2010); and Bradley Cooper (2011).
 
Departures Revenue, Ad Pages Climb
 
American Express Publishing’s Departures, which is delivered to Amex Platinum Card and Centurion members, enjoyed a strong year in 2012, with advertising revenue climbing 12% and ad pages up 2% compared to 2011, according to Senior Vice President and Publisher Steven DeLuca. This follows a 46% increase in ad revenue and 43% increase in ad pages in 2011, compared to 2010. In terms of its digital business, advertising revenue at Departures.com is up 144% at 2012. Overall, the magazine recruited 78 new advertisers in 2012, including Burberry, Michael Kors, Tod’s, Mikimoto, Vacheron Constantin and British Airways. In January, the magazine will increase its rate base 2.9% from 875,000 to 900,000.
 
AAM To Create Allowance For Newsstand Losses
 
The Alliance for Audited Media, formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations, has decided to create an allowance for magazine newsstand sales that are lost because the magazines aren’t properly scanned or accounted for by retailers. The AAM has not determined the size of the allowance, which will be decided at its March meeting after consultation with industry stakeholders. The new rules, if approved, will take effect with publishers' statements for the first half of 2013.
 
Dadich To Editor, Wired
 
Condé Nast has named Scott Dadich as the editor of Wired, following the departure of longtime editor Chris Anderson, who is leaving the company to become CEO of 3D Robotics. Dadich was the creative director for Wired from 2006-2010, then was promoted to Condé Nast vice president for editorial platforms and designs, where he played a prominent role in getting the publisher’s titles ready for tablet distribution.

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