Any Oxygen subscribers out there?
- Thread starter lrayburn
- Start date
veronicamitch
Active Member
I just signed up for a subscription!! I did notice all the ads and supplements, but I also noticed the same thing recently in my Yoga Journal subscription. You can't turn a page without a close up of some woman in "yoga wear" in some pose. It's ridiculous. Besides that, I found a bunch of great info in the last Oxygen issue - probably cuz I'm new and am still learning.
Havingfun
Cathlete
magazines
Hi,
Let's see, I gave up M&H because I just couldn't see how Samantha Harris was a model for fitness. I let my Oxygen subscription run out because I got sick of the ads, then renewed for a year just for mindless reading. If I believed everything that they say in On Fitness I'd have to grow all of my food organically and never purchase another thing to eat.
I hate all of the ads in the magazines, but I guess I just look past them. I'm pretty sure that the lure of big bucks was more than many could resist. The worst for me is Jillian M. You'd think that she would be making enough money with TBL and all of the other stuff she does. I guess once you get that much, there's never quite enough....
I was in the doctor's office yesterday and the ads in the fashion magazines etc. are still similar in a different way; buy this cream to get rid of these lines, wear XX clothes that are pretty much out of the price range of the average Joe, etc. etc. I don't subscribe to any of those though.
Tracy
P.S. I haven't gotten my diet pills yet!
Hi,
Let's see, I gave up M&H because I just couldn't see how Samantha Harris was a model for fitness. I let my Oxygen subscription run out because I got sick of the ads, then renewed for a year just for mindless reading. If I believed everything that they say in On Fitness I'd have to grow all of my food organically and never purchase another thing to eat.
I hate all of the ads in the magazines, but I guess I just look past them. I'm pretty sure that the lure of big bucks was more than many could resist. The worst for me is Jillian M. You'd think that she would be making enough money with TBL and all of the other stuff she does. I guess once you get that much, there's never quite enough....
I was in the doctor's office yesterday and the ads in the fashion magazines etc. are still similar in a different way; buy this cream to get rid of these lines, wear XX clothes that are pretty much out of the price range of the average Joe, etc. etc. I don't subscribe to any of those though.
Tracy
P.S. I haven't gotten my diet pills yet!
mrsprincess07
Cathlete
Yoga and fitness clothing are one thing...it goes hand and hand. But diet pills do not go well with a publication that promotes clean eating, fitness-working hard, and doing things naturally. It's an oxymoron.
Fitnessfreakk366
Cathlete
I agree about all this and am disgusted about Oxygen sending out diet pills. I am not renewing my subscription when it is up and that has been a decision of mine before this pill debacle. I'm sick of the same articles, same exercises. How many times does Robert Kennedy have to preach about weight training? Good lawd. And I'm about sick to death of his wife, too.
One HUGE thing that bothers me about this magazine is none of the nutritional value in their recipes are right. I usually redo the math just to make sure I'm keying in the correct info for myself and every recipe I have ever made out of that magazine has incorrect nutrition value. WTH? I even emailed them about it and never heard back. I wish I could remember the one recipe I made that Oxygen claimed to have over 200 more calories then it actually did. Talk about frustrating when you're trying to eat a certain amount of calories every day.
I won't subscribe to anymore fitness mags. I've had my fill. They all advertise diet pills, Hydroxycut, etc. Like another poster said, I know enough now to just go on my own. I can always pick up M&F Hers in the store if the bug hits.
One HUGE thing that bothers me about this magazine is none of the nutritional value in their recipes are right. I usually redo the math just to make sure I'm keying in the correct info for myself and every recipe I have ever made out of that magazine has incorrect nutrition value. WTH? I even emailed them about it and never heard back. I wish I could remember the one recipe I made that Oxygen claimed to have over 200 more calories then it actually did. Talk about frustrating when you're trying to eat a certain amount of calories every day.
I won't subscribe to anymore fitness mags. I've had my fill. They all advertise diet pills, Hydroxycut, etc. Like another poster said, I know enough now to just go on my own. I can always pick up M&F Hers in the store if the bug hits.
Fitnessfreakk366
Cathlete
I haven't received mine either. Maybe that is why?
Oh and one more thing about the recipes. The recipes I've made from Tosca's book are nutritionally wrong too. Seriously, WTF?
Oh and one more thing about the recipes. The recipes I've made from Tosca's book are nutritionally wrong too. Seriously, WTF?
pinkquinn
Cathlete
I am not a figure athelet and I dont take pills, but it seems to me this magazine is geared toward figure athelets (or other people that dabble in serious training) and from the few that I know personally, they do use supplements and diet pills to get contest lean.
Sending pills is seriously stupid, but the adds dont bother me that much.
Sending pills is seriously stupid, but the adds dont bother me that much.
lrayburn
Cathlete
PinkQuinn,
You're right. I just tend to overlook the figure competition parts and the ads. I guess I've been aggravated with a couple of things - the fact that I don't feel like I learn anything new, the poor editing, etc - and the pills just put me over the top.
The only question now is do I write Mr. Kennedy an email telling him what I really think and cancel or do I just let my subscription die a natural death?
Lisa
You're right. I just tend to overlook the figure competition parts and the ads. I guess I've been aggravated with a couple of things - the fact that I don't feel like I learn anything new, the poor editing, etc - and the pills just put me over the top.
The only question now is do I write Mr. Kennedy an email telling him what I really think and cancel or do I just let my subscription die a natural death?
Lisa
mrsprincess07
Cathlete
I would write either way. If you've only got a month or 2 left on your subscription, I would like it die. If you have more issues than that due to arrive, call and cancel.
BTW: I am NOT a fan of Tosca's either! I've read from several resources that her nutritional value is off. I also think that one could get more creative with food than she does and it would probably taste much better. But then again, I'm not a clean eater...I follow the whole foods and real foods philosophy90-95% of the time which is semi-clean...
BTW: I am NOT a fan of Tosca's either! I've read from several resources that her nutritional value is off. I also think that one could get more creative with food than she does and it would probably taste much better. But then again, I'm not a clean eater...I follow the whole foods and real foods philosophy90-95% of the time which is semi-clean...
phoenix130
Cathlete
I didn't receive any pills with mine
I subscribe to Oxygen and don't remember receiving any pills - maybe because I'm in Canada and there might be restrictions on that sort of thing?
But I agree - I would be angry if I got pills with my magazine as well and it's completely opposite to what they 'teach' in the magazine. I used to like Oxygen but now I just find it to be the same old stuff and I also am getting tired of all the supplement and other quick fix ads. I was planning on just letting my subscription expire.
I subscribe to Oxygen and don't remember receiving any pills - maybe because I'm in Canada and there might be restrictions on that sort of thing?
But I agree - I would be angry if I got pills with my magazine as well and it's completely opposite to what they 'teach' in the magazine. I used to like Oxygen but now I just find it to be the same old stuff and I also am getting tired of all the supplement and other quick fix ads. I was planning on just letting my subscription expire.
pgun
Cathlete
Advertising
I totally agree. That is where they make money, unless of course you would rather pay more for your subscription. It is already too expensive. Kennedy even stated that when a writer wrote in asking the same question a few years back.
I totally agree. That is where they make money, unless of course you would rather pay more for your subscription. It is already too expensive. Kennedy even stated that when a writer wrote in asking the same question a few years back.
L Sass
Cathlete
I got my fat burner pills and they were broken to smitherenes (sp?) But I do agree that these magazaines (Oxygen and M&F Hers) are geared to the contest athletes. The amount of pills taken is huge - when I train, between my vitamins, minerals, and supplements I take upwards of 80 pills a day. And I am always interested in looking at the stacks that the various competitors promote. But before I learned about the whole thing I had cancelled a few magazine subscriptions for this very reason. I found the worst to be the ones like Prevention running ads for pharmaceuticals. As for Oxygen and Tosca, I'm sure the fact that Mr. Kennedy and Tosca are married has a lot to do with so much promotion of her.
morningstar
Cathlete
I actually like Oxygen- I like that they promote women with muscles, strength and power. I like that they promote Tosca, who's in amazing shape and has built a great business for herself, starting at a later age, and I like that Robert Kennedy is clearly crazy in love with his wife. I had a subscription that I enjoyed each and every month. I didn't subscribe again after it ran out because I found that if you've read 12 Oxygen magazines, you've pretty much heard everything they have to say.
With regard to the ads, I enjoy advertising as an art, so they don't bother me. I look at them with an eye to both their aesthetics and their ability to manipulate, which is also an art form. I don't find myself buying the product, any more than I buy makeup when reading the ads in a beauty magazine, as I don't wear makeup. I find the typical beauty magazine much more annoying, as they really want women to hate how they look, feel, etc., as that's the only way they can sell themselves as our saviour.
To me, Oxygen is much more about empowering women to find their own strength. Yes, they accept the ads of sponsors that they don't promote or agree with in their articles to pay for the publishing of their magazines. To me that's WAY better than accepting the ads of sponsors and then promoting the hell out of those products as miracles in their articles, especially when they pretend that they've had women test the products or done research, whatever. That just treats readers like they're stupid and is a much more powerful form of manipulation, as readers tend to trust the publishers of magazines as someone that wouldn't lie to them just to sell a product. After all, we assume that magazine publishers are in the business of selling magazines, not products, and therefore they would have no reason to try to manipulate us into purchasing those products. Other fitness magazines are really blatant about this too- it's why I stopped buying Fitness Rx for Women. Oxygen really doesn't do that - the only things they really push are Tosca's books and it is quite obvious why - they aren't trying to be subtle or sneaky about it.
I definitely think it was a bad idea to put pills in the magazines, but I also think it's a really bad idea to put perfume samples in magazines and the perfume bothers me more.
With regard to the ads, I enjoy advertising as an art, so they don't bother me. I look at them with an eye to both their aesthetics and their ability to manipulate, which is also an art form. I don't find myself buying the product, any more than I buy makeup when reading the ads in a beauty magazine, as I don't wear makeup. I find the typical beauty magazine much more annoying, as they really want women to hate how they look, feel, etc., as that's the only way they can sell themselves as our saviour.
To me, Oxygen is much more about empowering women to find their own strength. Yes, they accept the ads of sponsors that they don't promote or agree with in their articles to pay for the publishing of their magazines. To me that's WAY better than accepting the ads of sponsors and then promoting the hell out of those products as miracles in their articles, especially when they pretend that they've had women test the products or done research, whatever. That just treats readers like they're stupid and is a much more powerful form of manipulation, as readers tend to trust the publishers of magazines as someone that wouldn't lie to them just to sell a product. After all, we assume that magazine publishers are in the business of selling magazines, not products, and therefore they would have no reason to try to manipulate us into purchasing those products. Other fitness magazines are really blatant about this too- it's why I stopped buying Fitness Rx for Women. Oxygen really doesn't do that - the only things they really push are Tosca's books and it is quite obvious why - they aren't trying to be subtle or sneaky about it.
I definitely think it was a bad idea to put pills in the magazines, but I also think it's a really bad idea to put perfume samples in magazines and the perfume bothers me more.
morningstar
Cathlete
Well, hey, thanks! What was it: my sparkling syntax, the way my commas sort of smile at you from across a crowded paragraph, the cheekiness of my Canadian spelling?
msmik
Cathlete
All of the above! Plus I live in Northern Minnesota, so if you're in Canada, we're practically neighbors.
Annie