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How the Globe blew it with Lola
By adamg on Sun, 11/18/2007 - 11:17am
I say this without having seen the first copy of this, this thing (imagine that: I can't find the cute little red Lola holders in Roslindale; must be because we lost all our chic little boutiques). And I say it while trying not to gag while reading the editor's note on the mostly-empty Lola Web site, which reads like a bad drunken parody of an editor's note for a magazine aimed at hip young women: "And if Lola doesn't have the answers, she knows just who to turn to for advice, from relationship experts to real estate gurus. Oh, and she has an excellent astrologer." And, of course, I say this without being one of Lola's targeted "smart and sassy" Boston women, who knows that "getting into Fenway Park is as hard as getting into Harvard" and who "loves nightclubbing and shopping, of course, but [is] also well-read, financially savvy, and engaged in the world around her."
So yeah, anyway, Lola's supposed to be all about trading hot tips for chic, with-it women. Of course, that's why God gave us Daily Candy. But everybody knows that publishing these days is really about community. You want your readers interacting with each other (and no, silly, not just because you get free content to fill your pages with now that you've laid off all those pesky reporters).
Hmm, that sounds familiar. Oh, yeah, right, like Confidential Chat. Remember that? Decades before the hot, hip young Web doyennes were blathering on and on about "community," the Globe had this feature where women could congregate and trade ideas and tips. Of course, the Globe killed it. And now we have Lola. Bah.
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Comments
Low Lola
If you're that masochistic, the Globe dispenser at the upper level bus area of Forest Hills T has it.
It's fluff, ads, and monosyllables. Spend.
Ah!
See, I always come in through the lower level. Guess I'm too low brow for Lola (L-O-L-A Lola!) :-).
So which Lola is it named after?
Barry Manilow's, or Ray Davies' ? Or maybe Marlene Dietrich's?
When the teenage edition comes out, will it be called Lolita?
Lola: If I had to date her, I'd shoot myself in the face. Twice.
Only a person who has use for an "excellent astrologer" would believe that "getting into Fenway Park is as hard as getting into Harvard".
I wonder how much a scalped Harvard degree would go for?
Isn't Lola just supposed to
Isn't Lola just supposed to be fun/not that serious?
Why take it as a personal attack on your intelligence? Why would reading your horoscope make you vapid?
Lusitania
Lest any woman was fooled into thinking that the paper wasn't talking down to them, the publisher sent in this little torpedo "Oh, and she has an excellent astrologer." I may start reading it to learn about which bars to avoid.
Or we can all give it a
Or we can all give it a chance before it starts up, right? Like adults?
Fluff, ads, and monosyllables! OH MY!
It's always sad when cynicism and distaste for a larger corporation can be directed at something as light hearted and innocuous as new magazine for the women of Boston.
This free mag was the perfect companion for the T, light enough so that the jarring ride didn't distract me, but engaging enough to keep me turning the pages until I reached my destination. In a time when our community is becoming ever more global, and homogenous, it's nice to think there are still some effort made to focus on a portion of one city's population. So maybe you don't need the shopping tips, or bar suggestions, but here is a new outlet for our local vendors and business owners to get their name out there and recognized for the contributions they've made to the city.
The readers of this magazine will most certainly be intelligent; they will be intelligent enough to realize that a magazine doesn't have to The Economist to be worth their time. They will be intelligent women who may know it's silly, but sometimes a horoscope can be fun and intriguing, and maybe even give some measure or piece of mind. They will also be intelligent enough to see that it is a lot more healthy for the heart and mind to indulge in a magazine that tells them what's great about their city, instead of reading pessimistic blogs that strive to point out what isn't.
One issue out, and maybe I'm one of its few fans, but I don't think that will be the case for long. So, sorry Adam, that your apparent loathing of the Globe makes you so opposed to little Lola, but perhaps this is an issue the WOMEN of Boston should decide.
For Women? Are you sure?
At least Marie Claire has some serious articles and a solid feminist bent. They understand that they are talking to GROWN WOMEN. 20-somethings, mostly, but adults nonetheless. Light, fun, annoying at times, but worth a guilty pleasure read on arrival because it is for and about women.
The level of writing and communication in Lola is on a par with Teen Beat and Tiger Beat and any number of entertainment pubs aimed at younger teens. It isn't even up with Seventeen, if I remember properly from my younger years.
Patronizing? Yep.
So how does it compare with Skirt magazine?
(http://boston.skirt.com/ - which also debuted locally this fall)
You guys should give the new
You guys should give the new editor, Kara, a chance. She is officially taking over for the second issue.
I will give her a chance
And again, with the caveat that I'm about as far from the target market as you can get (not a woman, not sassy, and the smart part is open to debate), but much of my original rant sprung from me reading the editor's note with her name on it at wwww.lolaboston.com.
-- Adam
Believe it or not ...
I actually got a copy of the first issue of Skirt. They had some good articles in there (i.e., stuff not just dedicated to making you be a good little consumer), but most of the articles were these one-page overdesigned things that looked more like ads than articles. And, my God, the pages in this thing are huge - you could use them as temporary replacements for sails on a clipper ship (so in that regard, it's just like the THIRD local women's fashion magazine around here, FHB or whatever they call it).
But as has just been pointed out, I am not a WOMAN, so what do I know?