There is such a Thing as a Free Magazine

April 25, 2003 8:08 PM

We Have Cameras Magazines: Why is Maxim offering a free, no-catches 2 years subscription to anyone who can be bothered to give them one of their spamsucker e-mail addresses? Hey, I hate Maxim but I'd take one if I lived in the U.S, if only to keep the postal service busy and ingratiate myself with my nephews. Will all magazines - at least the shittiest ones - be free in the future? Subscription rates, sales and advertising revenues keep falling and it seems the only bargaining chip magazines have left (to solicit advertisements) is circulation. And still new mags, like Radar, keep popping up. Good thing? Bad thing? You tell me.
posted by Carlos Quevedo (25 comments total)

And, while we're at it, here is Magazine City's fill-in form for other free subscriptions: "Please check off as many or as few magazines categories as may be of interest to you." ;)
posted by Carlos Quevedo at 8:23 PM on April 25, 2003

i'm scared.
posted by Espoo2 at 8:41 PM on April 25, 2003

But Carlos! It says right here (and I quote) "Your email address will not be given or sold to anyone"( including Maxim!!). So you don't have anything to worry about.

I, for one, am signing up for Ferret magazine.
posted by skyscraper at 8:42 PM on April 25, 2003

I did get a free subscription to Tape Op magazine, a "creative music recording" publication. It's been great. They are still offering the free subscription, at the above link.
posted by Espoo2 at 8:47 PM on April 25, 2003

I get several trade magazines for free. You just typically have to certify (by your signature or your e-mail address that you're requesting them.
posted by Vidiot at 10:20 PM on April 25, 2003

Give them a Spam Gourmet disposable e-mail address and it doesn't matter what they do with it. :)
posted by Blue Stone at 10:24 PM on April 25, 2003

I don't think I've paid for a magazine in over 3 years. Magazines normally give out tons of free subscriptions to boost their advertising revenues and brand name. This is one of many that you can get on the net.
posted by Decypher at 10:35 PM on April 25, 2003

Hmmm, looks like you can get Stuff and Field & Stream for free also. Too bad it's only soft-core porn they have.
posted by QrysDonnell at 10:56 PM on April 25, 2003

Can anyone point me to the origin of the "We have cameras" joke? I kinda vaguely remember when someone first said it.

/slight derail, sorry
posted by dhoyt at 10:59 PM on April 25, 2003

Magazines normally give out tons of free subscriptions to boost their advertising revenues and brand name.

There are several that I subscribed to at various times in the past who still keep sending magazines even though I haven't paid them anything in years. Frankly, I wish some of them would quit, even though they're free.
posted by normy at 11:30 PM on April 25, 2003

dhoyt, it's a classic NortonDC quote.
posted by riffola at 12:08 AM on April 26, 2003

This is something that intrigues me, because the 'subscription' thing doesn't really translate to Britain. I buy a copy of Harper's in Borders, and see that I could subscribe to it in the US for two years for $24, saving, what, $118 from the cover price? By contrast, a foreign sub costs $41 per year, which is still a saving, but a very different deal.

In Britain, most annual subs cost only a little less than the price of the year's issues: for instance, £92/$129 for 51 issues of the Economist, which saves around £1 per copy. I'm guessing that subscriber numbers really matter when it comes to US advertising sales. (The only notable discount sub I'm aware of in the UK is for Private Eye, which costs £19 per year, as opposed to £31.20 for 25 issues per year.)

The cheapest deal I know of is a mate who has what's essentially a lifetime sub to the Onion, after alerting them to a piece that was plagiarised by Victor Lewis-Smith for the Eye's 'Funny Old World' section: his subscription label says that it's set to run out in 2140.

As for Maxim: well, there are obviously other ways to pay for Felix Dennis's crack habit.
posted by riviera at 1:16 AM on April 26, 2003

dhoyt, it's a classic NortonDC quote.
posted by riffola at 12:08 AM PST on April 26

I've seen it before, and in the original thread... but why is it funny? Is it a parody of something?
posted by Espoo2 at 2:58 AM on April 26, 2003

Read two comments up.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 5:47 AM on April 26, 2003

Well, can't subscribe to anything now, the site is down.
posted by delmoi at 6:38 AM on April 26, 2003

You people just showed that you're willing to turn a blind eye when it is to your benefit. How does that make you any different from those you rail against?
posted by marknau

We have cameras.
posted by NortonDC
posted by G_Ask at 8:22 AM on April 26, 2003

Normy said, "There are several that I subscribed to at various times in the past who still keep sending magazines even though I haven't paid them anything in years. Frankly, I wish some of them would quit, even though they're free."

If you don't like them, give them to a local dentist or doctor's surgery, or something, and give pepole something to take their minds off their hideous ailments and painful teeth.

Anything other than 1972 copies of "Womens Circle" or "Family Choice," that can usually be found in such places, should do the trick.
posted by Blue Stone at 10:08 AM on April 26, 2003

Hey PG, if you'll notice, I quoted the comment you told me to read... thus, the reason for my own post.
posted by Espoo2 at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2003

Also "free": Stuff (a little URL tinkering found only this other case of subscriber-desperation)
posted by Zurishaddai at 10:22 AM on April 26, 2003

Will they charge you after two years though?
posted by banished at 10:39 AM on April 26, 2003

Here is the link to F&S: http://www.magazine-city.net/FieldStream/FieldStream.asp
posted by bargle at 10:41 AM on April 26, 2003

Now THIS is what I read metafilter for. Seriously. Freefilter? Seriously, again.
posted by Wood at 11:07 AM on April 26, 2003

Anything other than 1972 copies of "Womens Circle" or "Family Choice," that can usually be found in such places, should do the trick.


and if you *do* have copies of 70s era Women's Circle, please get in touch with me. I collect these sort of things (I prefer late fifties through sixties editions, but anything pre-80s is usually damn good).
posted by fishfucker at 12:20 PM on April 26, 2003

I like Maxim. Maxim has boobies.

Boobies are good.
posted by Cyrano at 8:39 PM on April 27, 2003

Ok, I submitted with my fake name and fake phone number on the main 'Free Stuff' page. Now, how do I get that Hustler for free? :)

Seriously, what now? All it did was say 'Thanks'.
posted by eas98 at 7:59 AM on April 28, 2003