Gaga, Aniston, SJP sell magazines, Bieber does not
All three have blonde hair, stunning smiles and killer bodies, but what else do Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston and Heidi Klum have in common?
A proven track record of consistently selling magazines.
However, not all blondes with pretty smiles fared well on the cover of fashion magazines. Reese Witherspoon struggled to increase sales for Vogue, Marie Claire and Glamour, according to WWD via the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The report lists which issues sold in 2011- and which ones struck out, and the results are mildly surprising:
Among the best-sellers: Mila Kunis, whose August GQ cover topped the publication's numbers with 205,000 copies sold. Her February Cosmopolitan issue sold 1.7 million issues, along with major percentage in sales increases for her W and Elle covers in March and August, respectively.
Speaking of GQ, direct competitor Esquire flubbed with its February cover of Brooklyn Decker. With a weak posting of 81,000 sales, Mrs. Roddick's performance was the second worst all year for the men's magazine. Her presence did not seem to generate women's interests either, with a 25% lower-than-average number sold for her SELF cover.
As for megawatt stars Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber, the results were up, up, and down.
Gaga was by far the top selling issue of Vogue, and Kim Kardashian was Cosmopolitan and Glamour's bestselling covers in 2011. However, Glamour's attempt to bring Kim back along with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney for the January 2012 issue will most likely backfire: Sales are on track for a severely weak performance.
And finally, Bieber fever is proven to sell records, but this does not hold true when it comes to magazine sales. Justin's February cover of Vanity Fair failed miserably with 245,800 copies sold, which according to WWD, is the third worst since Graydon Carter took over as editor of the publication in '92.