January/February 1998 Issue

Custom tailoring

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An article in a recent issue of American Demographics concluded, “The ultimate aim of the new phase of marketing is to reach consumers with specific messages about how products and services tie in to their personal lifestyles.” The shirt company Phillips-Van Heusen seems to have taken this strategy to heart, pairing standard shots of its conservative shirts with tag lines tailored to fit. Does the $8 million campaign, custom-targeted to such editorially distinct glossies as Martha Stewart Living and GQ, work? You decide:

“Shirts for men who watched Basic Instinct in slow motion.” —GQ

“Shirts for men who fell hopelessly in love and still are.” —Martha Stewart Living

“Shirts for men who got the free sweatshirt when they subscribed… Shirts for men who got the swimsuit video when they subscribed… Shirts for men who want to exchange the sweatshirt for the video.” —Sports Illustrated (three-page ad)

“Shirts for men who are good. Shirts for men who are good for one thing.” —Cosmopolitan

“Shirts for men who commonly experience déjà vu…Shirts for men who commonly experience déjà vu.” —Out and the New York Times Magazine (two-page ad)

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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