RIP Gourmet Magazine: 1941-2009

[MaxH]

Russ Parsons at the L.A. Times takes another stab at the "why Gourmet is gone" genre. ... Parsons, like most writers on this subject, dances around the question of why advertisers were fleeing from Gourmet.

I wonder if he'd like to comment in person, given that Russ is of course a participating member here (since 2002) with many posts (albeit the last I saw were two years back).

Another data point FWIW: Advance review copy of the new cookbook Gourmet Today cited a pending $750k marketing and promotion campaign: Free subscriptions with book purchase; special advertising in specified 2009 and 2010 Gourmet issues; other national and trade mag advertising; e-marketing, targeting "bloggers and food sites" and "online chats with Ruth Reichl, widgets for family and 'Mom' sites;" further publicity throughout 2010 holiday periods. Reads strangely after the magazine's October closure, but apparently it was an ambitious project.

[santo_grace]

Looks like they are trying to resurrect Gourmet in some fashion. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay $5 a month (I'm using the Wired cost as a point of reference) for something I paid $20/year for.

NY Times article

Edited June 22, 2010 by santo_grace (log)

[BetD]

I have been enjoying the Gourmet Live app for the iPad... it was free, the content is free and it is kind of pretty As I understand it, it uses a combination of new and archieved materials. While not, in itself, the most compelling reason to finally get that iPad (and there ARE plenty of reasons!), if you have one, check it out!