It featured one article on violent female gang members that was laced with profanity. “There’s definitely some roughness around the edges,” said Scott Bedbury, Nike’s ad manager, in reference to Vibe’s first issue.
Swatch has placed a full-page ad, as has Gatorade, Nintendo and even two California surf wear companies-Gotcha and Body Glove-that are struggling to give beachwear an urban motif.īut some advertisers are already wondering if they did the right thing. Nike has a five-page ad spread in Vibe’s premiere issue, and Levi has a four-page promotion for its loose-fitting jeans. That is why advertisers are buying space in Vibe. If it’s a flop, the first issue will also be its last.įor records and tapes alone, this group spends well in excess of $100 million annually. If this issue is a hit-selling at least 100,000 of the 200,000 issues printed-the magazine will begin publishing monthly next spring. It has attracted some big advertisers such as Nike and Levi Strauss, which are eager to reach 18- to 24-year-old trendsetters.
That’s why Jones-with financial backing from Time Warner Inc.-founded Vibe, a publication whose “test” issue hits newsstands this week. “Rappers need a home for themselves,” Jones said.
By that he means rap stars such as LL Cool J and YoYo, who have taken the hip-hop lifestyle of the streets and made it an integral part of the music and fashion of suburban America. “Rolling Stone makes second-class citizens out of the people in this business who are icons,” said Jones. But the world’s best-known record producer-the man behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album-says he’s getting into the magazine business because he’s fed up with rock music magazines such as Rolling Stone that virtually ignore rap. Quincy Jones made his name producing music-not magazines.
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