My introduction to FHM began with quite an embarrassing tale I'm afraid. Looking forward to a quiet Friday night in I was indulging in some relaxing "me" time. I hadn't heard the knock at the door or my lodger letting someone in and the next thing I know a female friend of mine was stood in ... Read review
My introduction to FHM began with quite an embarrassing tale I'm afraid. Looking forward to a quiet Friday night in I was indulging in some relaxing "me" time. I hadn't heard the knock at the door or my lodger letting someone in and the next thing I know a female friend of mine was stood in the doorway to my bedroom in shock at realising just what I was up to. "What are you doing?" she asked, "reading" I replied. "Yes, ... ...of FHM.
FHM is one of those thick monthly "lad mags" that competes for customers along side the likes of Loaded (the blueprint for these type of publication), GQ, Arena and more recently Nuts. Originally launched in 1985 as For Him, it wasn't until 1994 that it acquired the name FHM and is now issued in twenty-seven countries across the world. It is printed on high quality glossy paper and the layout and look of the magazine ... more
My introduction to FHM began with quite an embarrassing tale I'm afraid. Looking forward to a quiet Friday night in I was indulging in some relaxing "me" time. I hadn't heard the knock at the door or my lodger letting someone in and the next thing I know a female friend of mine was stood in the doorway to my bedroom in shock at realising just what I was up to. "What are you doing?" she asked, "reading" I replied. "Yes, but reading what?" she demanded. In shame I had to admit it was Selected Works of Renes Descartes, a renowned French renaissance philosopher; she couldn't look at me in the eye. "And what is this you are listening to?" the onslaught continued, "Bach" I admitted. "Dave, I'm disgusted, you play in a rock band, drink with bikers, you have an image to live up to you know, if this got out…well it doesn't bear thinking about." As an after thought she added, "And there's never any porn in your bathroom either, sometimes I worry if you are a real man at all." I led her to the kitchen made a coffee and slipped a Wildhearts CD (scientifically proven to be the best rock band on the planet) into the player to diffuse the situation. The next time she came round it was bearing what she thought was an appropriate gift and the reason for this strange tale by way of introduction. Uttering the phrase "I've brought you some porn for your bathroom" she handed me a copy of FHM.
FHM is one of those thick monthly "lad mags" that competes for customers along side the likes of Loaded (the blueprint for these type of publication), GQ, Arena and more recently Nuts. Originally launched in 1985 as For Him, it wasn't until 1994 that it acquired the name FHM and is now issued in twenty-seven countries across the world. It is printed on high quality glossy paper and the layout and look of the magazine is nothing less than professional, but once away from the technical aspects, I can find very little to support the magazines status as one of the highest circulating magazines in its market genre. The magazine starts out with the assumption that if you are a male then your main interests are girls and cars, just like in all the Bruce Springstein songs. Well obviously as a red-blooded male, I do appreciate the allure of a well-turned ankle and a sly smile from behind the Japanese fan…not to mention a nice arse, (That's spoilt the illusion a bit hasn't it) but I have never felt the need to buy magazines dedicated to the fact and letch over them in private, surely that is what pubs are designed for. If God hadn't meant for men to letch in pubs then he wouldn't have invented barmaids would he. The same goes for cars, driving is one thing but reading about them quite frankly is boring. So I guess already you have worked out that I'm not really their target audience.
The layout to the magazine is fairly standard and is broken down into regular and special features.
Letters: The fact that you have top wade through 20 odd pages of adverts showing pretty boy types modelling the latest fashions and a few car adverts does explain why the magazine is so thick, I suppose. Once on the letters page it becomes obvious that most of the letters serve no purpose what so ever and are seem to be a vehicle for the editors to put some half-witted pun at the end of it. It also seems to be an opportunity to post some pictures of women amongst the pages. Maybe I'm over thinking the whole concept but I would have thought such a feature would have been either interesting on the one hand or funny on the other, they seem to have gone for pointless for reasons probably known only to themselves.
Incoming: Heralded as 18 pages of Girls, gags and gadgets, this section is slightly funnier in places than the last. Featuring a lot of adverts, a few pictures of women, some cut and paste juxtapositions to create humorous results and some genuinely half interesting items. Did I mention the random pictures of women; it's a bit of a theme. There are some jokes here also which ranged from the unfunny to the downright ancient. The fact that the editing team had never heard a variation on the dead composer/decomposing joke is a bit of a worry.
Hired Guns: This contained two featured writers, one being an over weight middle aged chap who wants to get fit and is really just a way of doing all the usual Bernard manning style gags, but on the plus side they did manage to have a go at Vanessa Feltz, so not a complete waste there then. The other is "Confessions of an ordinary girl with an extraordinary sex life" and as you can imagine is just a made up diary of titillating sex stories. I guess this is aimed at people who haven't got a sex life of their own and need to read about other peoples, the fact that a chain smoking middle age harridan fabricates them in a Fleet Street office, probably is besides the point.
Features and Girls: This section contains girls and features, though not always in that order. There are a couple of interviews, one with an American TV presenter, designated the worlds sexiest, what else, an interview that doesn't even bother to raise its game above the level of tease and kiss and tell stories. To balance this there is a half decent interview with a rapper, which obviously adds the hard factor to the section.
Confessions: Surprise, surprise, here we have a section of sex guides, and sex stories, the later being mildly amusing. The former is made up of two articles written, obviously by top porn stars, and they leave me thinking, anyone who needs to take advice from these sorts of people on how to attract the opposite sex has real problems.
The rest of the magazine is made up of advise on fashion, reviews of products and lots and lots of pictures of women, semi naked obviously, and I sometimes think that many of them would look better wearing a bit more, clothes are after all sexy when done write. Some would benefit from a duffle coat and hood. The accompanying text takes the form of readers asking questions, normally of a teenage mentality and you can almost hear the "fnar fnar" giggling of the writers as they e-mailed their gem of wisdom in. There are various special features ranging from the genuinely amusing and informative to the downright crass and toilet humour.
As I said before, I am not the target audience, though its large circulation means that there are a lot of people who are. One of the things that does amaze me is the amount of women who claim to enjoy this magazine. There seems very little in here that would appeal to your average woman. The information about how to be successful with women also seems very cliché and I'm sure anyone trying to follow the advice given will be sat at home alone with a kebab well before midnight. I guess you have to understand its limitations and just enjoy it for what it is, but its journalism seems very low brow and it seems aimed mainly at those who are too embarrassed to reach up to the news agents top shelf and pick up that copy of Mayfair. I will keep a copy lying around from now on, but only to keep a certain friend from spilling the beans about my real reading and listening habits.
...Well a few years ago FHM was made, and i think i speak for everyone it definitely led the way for other men’s magazines.
I’m a regular to the delights that FHM offers the men of today, buying it every month same day, same shop, same hour probably that's how much i like it but lets take a closer look at the wonders that FHM has to offer the world
Girls
********
For a boy of 15, well I’ll let you clear your head of thoughts; this is the perfect ... ...to Kelly Brook. FHM photographers have been called the best men’s magazine photographers in the world by so many models etc. they've definitely lived up to that reputation, capturing the true sexiness of every star in the mag. There’s a different girl every week taking main stage on the cover and main page but on top of that there is always more like he newest models or top 100 high street honey. High street honeys is a thing started by FHM to find ...
mr.stubbs 23.08.2004 (27.08.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of FHM
Advantages: something for everyone Disadvantages: too much gore
...whole of the world.
FHM would be best described as a men’s magazine that covers many topics of interest such as reporter, sex confidential, numerous features, men’s fashion, hardware, grooming, weekenders, reviews, problems and true stories – all of which, I will elaborate on in the following sections.
~ Reporter ~
The reporter section consistently has the following sub-sections that I will describe as the bizarre, gore and honeys.
... ...from letters sent in from FHM readers and to give you one example, they had a section a little while showing pictures of animal’s with strange proportioned genetalia and one in particular springs to mind is that of a bat who’s member was half the size of his body.
Then we come to what I call the gore part of the magazine, this shows people with particularly shocking disabilities/injuries and one page they seem to consistently have each ...
Wolfie1974 16.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of FHM
Advantages: Full of articles beginning to end lots of pictures and interviews Disadvantages: I don't have any with this mag
...then? The Results of the FHM 100 Sexiest Women (SW) Poll.
Of course it is, then comes the sun, sea and sand bit! That’s right the official results of the worlds 100 SW have been announced and every red hot-blooded male will run out to get their very own special edition copy.
This year the magazine is neatly presented in a big red box / handbag type thing and the results of the poll this year have been published in a beautifully presented glossy ... ...been a regular reader of FHM but pick it up on the odd occasion of having a great interview or of course the 100 SW, now those of you who know me well will be thinking why on earth is Squidget so into this 100 SW, not exactly his thing? Well I have been an avid follower for the 7 years it has been running and have been really intense at following it since the days when Kylie picked up the accolade.
That is my main reason each year for following ...
Squidget 22.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of FHM
...inevitably be made between the FHM ‘Student of the Month’, and your very own misses! Add the… “Well in the Laboratory of Love… it did say that I could use…” or seriously luv… “FHM says that it is cool to have rotting toes… come on … I need to get this picture of my foot sent in!”, and a break up is soon on the cards! Apart from these situations I find reading FHM extremely therapeutic. ... ...collecting all these copies of FHM each month, ready to come back at Christmas, add to the pile, and admire my ever-growing column! BUT mother had to spoil my fun. Thinking that I had left a pile of junk in my old room to be thrown out, the pile disappeared as quickly as my first roast dinner! I was so close to tears. Anyhow- life goes on with my column growing ever taller again as each month passes.
Flick past the treefull off needless skin care ...
tom_knowles 15.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of FHM
Advantages: easy read, widely available, good competitions, good tried and tested format. Disadvantages: too many ads, not enough original content
I first started reading FHM in the summer of 1994, when I was going off for a weekend and needed something to read on the train. At the time the market was not so over-exploited, with FHM not really directly competing against GQ, Esquire and Loaded. Loaded was too laddish, and GQ was too sartorially focussed, and still quarterly, and Esquire was seen as a slightly older guy's magazine.
FHM no seems to have acquired a degree of infamy, mainly due ... ...part of the magazine, although FHM is by no means unique in this, with a lot of magazines dumbing down and fleshing out with pictures. I would admit that you don't read FHM to find out about ballet or the arts, but on the whole it has been dumbed down over the last six years.
Each year since 1995, FHM has had an annual poll of the "100 Sexiest Girls of the Year", which has become a revolutionary institution, and indeed its cover girls have been ...
Morgenhund 26.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of FHM
Advantages: Lots of very up-to-date and useful information about sport, fitness, good nutrition and boys' toys. Disadvantages: The volume of adverts, although true of most magazines. Most activities and sports included are quite costly to partake in.
an excuse for men to lust over slim beauties, without having to reach for the top shelf and suffering the accusation of being “dirty”. I must add that these pictures are all very tasteful, although the majority of them *are* women in bikini’s or minimal sports gear. On closer inspection though I found there were a few of men too, showing off their perfect six-packs, to their best advantage! Makes a pleasant change from his usual magazines about model aeroplanes ;-)
So, I pinched his last few issues and started to have a flick through, read a few articles and then found myself totally engrossed as well! Okay, so I wasn’t interested in *everything* in there, but it is a magazine aimed at men after all!
So, what is all the fuss about? It is called FHM Bionic, which, from the makers of the biggest-selling men’ ...
Barb 15.11.2001
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Advantages: Good articles, freebies Disadvantages: Overlap in articles with other mags.
On the Gentleman/Lad scale, Esquire has kept out of lad territory, offering a good range of articles, on a similar sort of wavelength to GQ. Most notably Esquire has given away some great books with the magazine. Although the interviews are not ground breaking, the cross section of people interviewed has been a lot wider than other magazines, and there have been some very interesting interviews. Other giveaways have included clothing vouchers, and whilst there is less eye candy than often found in Men's Magazines, the photography is very good in Esquire. If you feel that FHM is too laddish, then Esquire along with GQ is likely to cater more for your requirements, although if you read more than one Mens Mag, you may well notice an overlap in articles. ...
Morgenhund 11.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Esquire
Advantages: better than the rest Disadvantages: bad image
I being a teenager on occasions buy lads magazines, do I buy FHM, no, Loaded, no, I buy Front. The reason being that it has much better information and is a lot more entertaining. I don't buy it cause it's soft-core porn. Front has a bad name for it's self and because of the racieness of the first and future issues, they claim to aim it at an adult audience but don't, its full of younger teens who have painted funny remarks all over their drunk mates.
Apart from that Front containes pics and interviews with numerous babes and plenty for the eyes to look at. The emphasis is on having a laugh. There is film and game reviews and pleny more to keep you reading this magazine for a long time. It lasts way longer than any issue of FHM, Loaded or Sky did. ...
Julz_Sco 13.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Front
