Last week I was in the airport for the first time in a while, and with time on my hands had a look at the magazines. I noticed one called “Lucky: The Magazine About Shopping,” and thought that it must be the dumbest idea for a magazine out there. Boy was I wrong. Not only is it selling 900,000 copies per issue, but the dumbest idea for a magazine was just around the corner: Cargo.
Here's how the Post's reviewer describes it:
Cargo is a shopping magazine for men. It contains no stories, just pictures of stuff you can buy — or, as one of Conde Nast's vast army of publicists puts it, “no articles, all products.”
Cargo might be the worst idea for a magazine in human history. It's certainly the worst idea for a magazine since December 2000, when Conde Nast launched Lucky, a shopping magazine for women. …
Lucky's success inspired Conde Nast to launch Cargo, originally dubbed Lucky for Men. That name was accurate: Cargo's premiere issue contains features on such guy-friendly stuff as hot cars and power tools, but it also has plenty of stuff about, yes, shoes and makeup and handbags and hairdos. …
But never fear. There is, yes, actual content in Cargo. The inaugural issue contains … wait for it … “fully illustrated advice on 'How to Roll Up Your Sleeves.' Step one: 'Undo all the buttons on the sleeve.'” Who woulda guessed?
