Nuts (magazine)
Nuts is a defunct British lads' mag which was published weekly in the United Kingdom and sold every Tuesday. Nuts' marketing campaign at its launch in 2004[3] used the slogan "When You Really Need Something Funny".[4]
 | |
 British glamour model Lucy Pinder on the 2014 cover of the final issue of Nuts | |
| Editor | Dominic Smith |
|---|---|
| Categories | Men's magazines |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Circulation | 53,342 (ABC Jul - Dec 2013)[1] |
| Publisher | IPC Media |
| Year founded | 2004 |
| Final issue | 29 April 2014 |
| Company | IPC Media (Inspire), Time Inc.[2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.nuts.co.uk |
The magazine closed in April 2014.
Sector profile
Nuts' main rival magazine was Zoo, another weekly, which was aimed at much the same demographic, 18–30-year-old men,[5] and had similar content. However, since the start of the respective magazines, Nuts always outsold Zoo, with the sales figures for the later half of 2013 showing a gap of nearly 25,000 copies per week.[1] Other magazines in competition with Nuts were Zip and men's monthly publications such as FHM and Loaded.
Decline and closure
The circulation of the magazine declined from 2007 onwards. The average number of copies sold in the second half of 2013 was 53,342, whereas the magazine had sales of 306,802 at its peak in 2005.[4]
On 8 August 2013, Dominic Smith, the magazine's editor, announced that their publication would no longer be sold by Co-op supermarkets. Smith withdrew the publication in response to the Co-op's request for publishers to put their 'lads' mags' in modesty bags to mask their explicit front covers. The Co-op said that it was responding to consumer concern.[6]
In March 2014 IPC Media announced that Nuts might soon cease publication after a 30-day consultation with staff.[7][8] Digital monthly sales of 8,776 (Jul-Dec 2013) suggested to industry observers that the magazine was not making a successful transition to an online platform.[4]
The magazine's last issue was published on 29 April 2014.[9] Lucy Pinder, who was a regular model for Nuts, appeared on the cover of the last issue. The Independent journalist Ella Alexander wrote at the time: "The magazine stayed true to its ethos right until the bitter end – passive, unthreatening, with (objectified versions of) women for everyone."[10]
See also
References
- Plunkett, John (13 February 2014). "FHM circulation drops below 100,000". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- "Case details for trade mark EU003274693". Intellectual Property Office (UK). Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- Di Hand; Steve Middleditch (10 July 2014). Design for Media: A Handbook for Students and Professionals in Journalism, PR, and Advertising. Routledge. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-317-86402-8. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- Adam Sherwin "Lads’ mag ‘Nuts’ looking for a buyer as it faces closure after 10 years", The Independent, 1 April 2014
- "R.I.P. Nuts magazine", BBC News Magazine Monitor, 1 April 2014
- Sillito, David (reporter). BBC 6 o'clock news "Co-op supermarket to stop selling Nuts magazine" (Television news broadcast). London: BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
To the Co-op we are saying that we are not putting our magazines in modesty bags, and if that means that they are no longer going to stock us then we will encourage our readers to shop elsewhere, and our readers will buy their copy of Nuts, their petrol, their fags, their shopping somewhere else. - Dominic Smith, Editor of Nuts
- Deans, Jason (31 March 2014). "Nuts magazine to close". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
- "Nuts magazine could fold as readers migrate to internet". BBC News. 1 April 2014.
- Dominic Ponsford "Weeping Lucy Pinder marks last issue of Nuts and the demise of a magazine sector", Press Gazette, 30 April 2014
- Ella Alexander "Nuts final issue: Lucy Pinder cries on the front cover as the lads' mag", The Independent, 1 May 2014