Yesterday, it was Saturday morning – perfect timing for the weekend – the new “brand eins” was sitting in my letter box.
I have come to that stage where I treat “brand eins” just like all the other paper media I still receive: first and foremost, I give them a thorough shake, letting all the adverts slide out – they go to the paper waste immediately. Incidentally, the November „brand eins“ contained around 100 grams of useless paper.
Well, I guess with media, this is the price you pay for being a success: the undesired adverts. It also happens with Bayern2 radio. The more people find the programme attractive, the longer the adverts section gets. What an annoying nuisance.
At least, with paper media you have one advantage: as far as the attachments are concerned, the method “give it a good shake and throw them away“ still works quite well. You cannot use the same method when you are listening to the radio – and the often noisy advertising really is unnerving …
I let the magazine make its own impression on me after having liberated it of the external adverts. The equally annoying internal adverts are something I now manage to overlook quite well, which is due to my mental “adblock”.
This edition has a white title page, so there is no colour for me to appreciate or criticize. First and foremost, the picture with the special bargain gets my attention: “Order One Pizza – Pay Two” it seems that my mental adblock does not work with the title page.
I prefer this to the other way around. Incidentally, I would rather eat one tasty pizza (or pretzel) and pay for two than eat two lousy ones and pay only for one.
Then I read the title “Why Don’t You Try Again“. At first sight, this sounds neither impressive nor inspiring. The same is true for the second focal point: Second Chance. Well, that is something that goes without saying, doesn’t it? Consequently, I get so much more interested in what might be there to read inside the magazine. So here I am, starting with the editorial.
Frau Fischer tells us that the first “brand eins“ edition was called “Restart”. It, too, was some kind of second chance. As always, she seems to know what she is talking about.
And as you read the magazine, you will find a number of very exciting “second chances”, along with the small “series installments” that always make good reading. Besides, I also meet a few old acquaintances. For instance Jost Stollmann. If I remember correctly, he gave a red BMW 320i to his teacher Rupert Lay when his first chance was under way. I remember this because I, used to drive a red 325i. And at the time, my mentor and friend Rupert had been truly delighted about the gift.
Yes, “brand eins” is definitely a great magazine. I always discover and learn a lot. Every one of the editions makes a tremendous impression on me.
I also discovered a sincere wish of mine deep inside: basically, I only want to read content that is free of adverts. Regardless of the fact that I know quite well that, in our – as I see it – highly perverted economic system with its columns marketing and lobbyism, this will hardly be possible.
Consequently, starting now, I have added yet another utopian idea to my concepts. So far, I used to dream of a world with “soft mobility without combustion motors that burn fossil energy”. And secondly and even more importantly, I used to dream of a “punishment-free society”.
So now there is an additional item, the utopian idea of “advert-free media”. And if we are not successful with our first attempt, then we will just try a second time.
Perhaps there will be a time in the future when it actually becomes reality. I will ask Frau Firscher’s opinion about it. But I am afraid this is a problem even Frau Fischer cannot help me with!
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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