Glamour Gimmick
The November issue of Conde Nast's Glamour has a new ploy to drive newsstand sales: the third dimension!The women's magazine has printed some pages in its fashion spread (and some of its ads) in 3D and is encouraging its usually-chic readers to wear boxy, cardboard, multi-colored glasses for the full effect. A small circle on the front cover advertises the gimmick.
My first thought on this was that is seemed...odd, and not really in line with the image-conscious brand. Glamour, in my mind, has no room for kitsch.
On the other hand, as the blog Jezebel points out, "It's interactive in an old-fashioned, Cracker-Jack way; it's something you can only do in print, not on the web; and it makes fashion fun."
The "only in print" bit really got me. With all the dire predictions about the state of print media, people need to be reminded of how special the medium is and how good it is at creating unique experiences for readers -- even when they are a little silly.
