The XX Factor: What women really think.

Not Flipping for Esquire Flip Book

A few thoughts came to mind when I saw the video demonstration of Esquire's May "Mix 'N' Match" cover, which, according to AdAge, is "perforated to split into a flip book that will let readers play mix and match with the facial features of President Barack Obama, George Clooney and Justin Timberlake." First of all, a video demonstration? I thought the point of Esquire was to teach men how not to look desperate. More importantly, is Esquire demeaning the president by making his facial features interchangeable with those of an actor and a pop musician? (Not that you aren't Obama-dreamy, George and Justin.) Or is this a claim that we need to focus on the man behind the image, which can be so easily sliced and reassembled to please or amuse the beholder?

And what's with the physical format of the flip book? This is the magazine whose October 2008 issue featured a digital cover. Those build-a-man flaps on the new cover seem decidedly analog to me. The gimmick is, of course, aimed at boosting newstand sales, which every magazine needs right now, but the editors of Esquire know that even October's über-gimmick didn't sell as many copies as Angelina Jolie did on the July 2007 cover or Johnny Depp did this January. Do the folks at Esquire think our attention spans have decreased to the point that we need our magazines to "do something" besides provide a good read? Are they afraid their stories alone are no longer enough to engage us? If so, is that about the quality of the stories, the quality of the readers, or just the fact that to sell anything in this economy you have to throw in some bells and whistles? The video demonstration is pasted below—does it make you want to buy the fancy flip book and play along?