Activity #2 Magazine Cover Deconstruct

I choose this magazine cover because, frankly, the other was just plain boring. If a magazine wants you to read it, the cover must catch your eye. But I am far too cynical to take anything at face value.

Media language: Black and bright white colors to attract the eye. Yellow print is used to emphasize the black and white. Background has bright colors to make the white and black stand out. Because this celebrity is so big and bold, the magazine allows him to  cover a big part of the  header. The target audience will definitely recognize him, even if someone doesn’t know who he is , they can recognize he is important. Some emphasis is definitely his biceps with the heading of 20 inch arms in 3 big moves placed very near Arnold’s arms. Is this real? Can 20 inch arms be attained in 3 big moves? Page 68 will tell the tale. Arnold has his best snarly Terminator face, to promote his T3 film. Did he blow something up? Is that fire in the background? Has this been touched up? Maybe a little airbrush, here and there? Are his sunglasses hiding a few crow’s feet? He certainly looks fit, the tight shirt helps the image. On page 114 is the EXCLUSIVE on his workout.  But the biggest text will attract all fitness enthusiasts. GET LEAN, in less time! Stay out of the gym to burn more fat.  Fitness enthusiasts that are striving to attain a certain image, they are ideal prospects for health or lifestyle magazines.

Institution: The message is Muscle and Fitness. Health and fitness ads help pay for it. Fitness enthusiasts tend to be well-educated individuals with the discretionary income to spend on health and fitness products and services, such as gym memberships, fitness publications, exercise videos and equipment.  It serves the media maker’s interest because health and fitness is a multimillion dollar business.

Genre: Fitness, health and lifestyle

Representation: You don’t have to pump iron, run a marathon or attend daily aerobic classes at your local gym to be considered a fitness enthusiast. To the contrary, most of the individuals , male or female, who fall into this category are aspirational fitness buffs—people who desire to be fit.

Audience: Demographics point to individuals, men or women, who are in their 20s to mid-40s —the age range most closely tied to body image and appearance. It empowers the everyday person to become healthy and fit.

Ideologies and Values: The values that this magazine can raise are that if you want to look like the ‘Terminator’, you need to read how Arnold does it. The positive message presented is that because this is a fitness magazine it will, hopefully, promote healthy living. The negative could be, get 20 inch arms in 3 moves; maybe 3 moves in 3 sets of 30, 3times a week.  If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Narrative: In a way the front cover of a magazine tells a story of the how fitness enthusiasts want to be and how they live. The tools of persuasion include: using beautiful people or in this case, extremely physically fit beautiful person. There are explicit claims, Get lean in less time, 20 inch arms in 3 moves. One more could be charisma, go to page 114 for the exclusive on how Arnold gets in shape.