One of the problems with the main stream media has long been that they live in their own little reality bubble; one that most of us will never occupy. The unfortunate consequence of this is that it heavily colors what they publish.
Let’s take Modern Bride for example. If you look at their editorial coverage of wedding gowns you get the distinct feeling that the only wedding gowns worth wearing start at $3,000. When the average budget for weddings in America is between $10,000 and $14,000 how many real brides are spending upwards of 1/3 of their budget on their gown? Not too many, I suspect. Yet when you look through the major magazines those are the gowns that are showcased.
Apparently I am not the only one that noticed. I was copied last week on a letter from Steve Lang, CEO of Mon Cheri Bridal to William Wackermann, Alison Matz, and Jennifer Hicks at Conde Nast; the publisher behind Modern Bride and Brides. Here is a quote from Mr. Lang
the editorial coverage still so heavily weighted towards high end lines continues to tell 97% of the consumers who read your publications that the high end dresses they cannot afford deserve more coverage then the dresses their budgets will allow them to buy. Yes, you added two pages of less expensive dresses but the premier editorial pages are still dedicated to 3% of your reading/buying audience.
Your publications do not serve the marketplace I have dedicated my life to.
Nor do they serve the majority of their readers. I have long held that there are beautiful, amazing bridal gowns out there for real American women, but you will never see them in the major bridal magazines. The same is true for most every other aspect of weddings today.
Beautiful weddings, like beautiful gowns can happen on a realistic budget. They happen everyday, but you will never see them in the media. Just look at the weddings they cover as “Real Weddings”. Real for maybe 3% of the weddings taking place.
On page 74 of the same issue of Modern Bride that inspired Mr. Lang was a bit about coasters for your wedding: double sided letterpress coasters, $700 for 100. Yes my friends, Modern Bride thinks you should aspire to spend $7 apiece for disposable paper coasters for your wedding reception.
As the economy continues its correction, magazines that insist on maintaining this editorial trajectory will become more and more irrelevant.
What are your feelings on this? How do you view wedding porn? Would you rather see more reality or do you see them as some sort of fantasy/science fiction publication?
