Now:
When you look at a Cosmopolitan magazine cover you notice the picture of the cover model, this is processed through the limbic brain. Your mind also processes all the text in varying fonts, colors, and sizes in the neocortex. Lastly, it appeals to the reptilian brain because the cover has 'sex' in large font. There are a few of the eight shifts that apply to this magazine. One would be the Technological shift. It used to be that you would have to wait for the magazine to be out on newsstands before you could read it. However, now Cosmo has a website with all different kinds of articles and videos on it. Another shift would be the Personal shift. Cosmo has a Facebook page where they have frequent updates about the magazine and allow feedback from consumers.
The "Reality" Construction/Trade-offs principle applies to Cosmo magazine because there are goods and bads to this magazine. Some of the goods are that there are important articles that women should read regarding health and other various information. One bad thing that I think of is having this magazine out on newsstands next to magazines targeted to younger girls or even children. I think we can all agree that Cosmo is not the kind of magazine younger girls should be looking at. Another principle of media would be Production Techniques. A lot of production goes into creating the cover of a magazine. There is getting a model, choosing the lighting that makes the model look best, deciding on hair, makeup, clothes etc. and once the cover shot is done there is the layout design. People have to figure out what should go where so the cover doesn't look crowded and unprofessional.
So this is a video of Megan Fox's Cosmo cover shoot, and yeah we have to listen to her talk about a bunch of crap that nobody cares about, but this video does a good job of showing what kind of production techniques go into creating an amazing cover.
Cosmo uses many of the Persuasive Techniques such as 'simple solution'. On the cover of this magazine it says "The New Water Sipping Trick That Crushes Hunger", they are offering a simple solution for losing weight. This cover also uses the 'rhetorical questions' like "Great Guy, Lame Sex?". It's pretty obvious no one is expecting a real answer. Another persuasive technique is 'plain folks', this magazine is targeted to the average young woman. The biggest persuasive technique is 'beautiful people'. Every cover of Cosmo features a well known, attractive female celebrity. These are just a few of the persuasive techniques (listing them all would take too much time).
Cosmo is a great magazine that really has a lot to offer. The main topics are beauty, health, love/sex, relationships, lifestyle, and of course fashion. This is a great magazine because they are always doing something different and keep you interested. This isn't the same old Cosmo that was originally targeted to a married housewife. Cosmo redesigned itself to appeal to young, single women with topics that interest them most.
