The surface details of this
image include Liam Hemsworth in just a plain black t-shirt. This is a magazine
cover for mens health and Liam Hemsworth is a good fit for this cover. The
cover itself is pretty blank and just filled with wording on the side about
losing weight, belly fat loss, and lean muscle. Looking deeper though it is
easy to tell why Liam would be on the cover with the words that are surroudning
his picture. Liam is in good shape, he is an actor in action movies most of the
time they are forced to keep themselves in good shape. So it is fitting, also
he is a good looking guy and for some reason whenever people look at a cover of
a magazine or something like that they always think that they can look like
whoever is on that cover, which is not true at all but brilliant marketing. He
is also someone who can relate to adults and to teens since he was just in the
movie “Hunger Games” which is something that both parents and teenagers alike
can relate too. In the picture though he is facing sideways and is flexing his
arm which is because they want to show that he is lean and has muscle which is
what almost everyone wants who is into fitness. The magazine itself is trying
to represent lean muscle mass and he represents that image almost perfectly. He
fits the ‘dream’ look and since that’s what people want to look like they will
buy the magazine to see if there is any special trick to look like Liam
Hemsowrth, but really there isnt and I personally have subscribed to Mens
Health myself because I like fitness. But in every magazine its basically the
same articels in differents words with a small variation of workouts that a
person with small knowledge or no knowledge about fitness could really get out
of it without researching everything they said. What is the point of all of
this stuff thogh? Well the point of it is that now adays girls like the six
pack abs and the big arms so it is an influx of culture change. Girls also like
hearthrobs so of course they are going to put a good looking guy on the cover. This
will ultimately persuade buyers to buy their magazine because lets face it what
guy doesn’t want to have those six pack abs, the big arms, and be good looking?
In the end, this is a brilliant magazine cover yet simple but still very
effective portraying a lot of different aspects in a simple picture.
Xavier, your article is interesting. However I respectfully disagree in regards to,"who does not want big arms and such, I am fine with the way I look. Some people are happy with the way they look whether if they are "beefy" or skinny. Personally I like to play video games and be skinny. I do not see a need for me to exercise. However I find the article interesting. I do agree that if you will have a "hunky" guy on the cover it will sell. The guys want something to work for or look up to, while the ladies want something to look at. I do respect the people who like to exercise and I find that great that the magazines serve the purpose for the company and the buyers. I also think that the target is not only for people who like fitness but people who like sports and people who are in the military due to the physical demands of the events. I have not seen the cover of the magazine or the Hunger Games so I would not know if he would be the ideal image of perfection, he has not achieved the title of Mr. Universe, but I will take you word for it and agree that he can be a good image for health not on the Mr. Universe scale.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your article, it reminded me of my own post about the magazine cover (I did mine on Self magazine, which is also a health related magazine). I agree on the fact that the health tips to get the “perfect body” are always the same, merely reworded differently each issue. The content of your post in total is great, and I agree with you on it for the most part (6 packs are appreciated, but aren’t necessary, just so you know), however, paragraphs would have been helpful for breaking up and organizing different topics you cover.
ReplyDeleteOn that note, another suggestion I would like to give you is to give us a link to the cover, or to embed it into the post. You can do this by being in your composition board, and at the top of your typing box should be something that says “Link.” It will be closer to the right side of the box. To the right of it will be three icons; a photo, movie clipper board, and a page break. Choose the photo one and you can just copy and paste the website you got the picture from, and it will appear.