L'Officiel's Diamond Give-Away: Devilishly Clever or Merely Desperate?

   

As everyone knows, the current economic downturn has hit print media particularly hard. Circulation and advertising pages have declined sharply resulting in industry-wide lay offs and severe budget cuts at even top publications as editors dig in their heels and try to weather the storm. This state of affairs is not likely to get better any time soon given that even top fashion and luxury brands have slashed their advertising budgets among other austerity measures.  What is a fashion publication to do under these trying circumstances? At least one fashion magazine is pulling out all the stops this holiday season. Venerable French fashion publication and my own personal fashion bible, l'Officiel has embedded three diamonds each worth 26,000 Euros ($34,000 USD) in three of the magazine's December issue. The three magazines have been placed in news stands somewhere in France. According to Passion Luxe, this may be a first in the history of print media. While I have no doubt this treasure hunt will sell some magazines in the short term, given the current economic climate, one can't help but sense a certain whiff of desperation. It also makes you wonder what they have in store for the January 09 issue.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles