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CNN Live Today

Interview With John Fein

Aired March 26, 2002 - 14:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For all those calling for full disclosure from Enron, here's an idea. It comes from "Playboy," no less. The men's magazine is planning a photo spread, "The Women of Enron," featuring current and former employees of the failed energy giant. In the words of a spokesman, "It will give the scandal" -- their words now -- "a human face." A spokesperson also says the response has been substantial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN KUSTER, "PLAYBOY" MAGAZINE: I just went out yesterday, and we have gotten flooded with phone calls. Anywhere from: where do I send my picture, what do I need to do. And other phone calls that have just been really supportive words like: although I'm not going to do it, I'm going to encourage some of my coworkers to do it, because I think it's a great idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: More talk about this now. John Fein, media reporter for "Advertising Age" magazine, with us live in New York. Hey, John, good afternoon.

JOHN FEIN, "ADVERTISING AGE": Good afternoon to you.

HEMMER: "Playboy" says the response has been tremendous. This is a business, bottom line. Does it surprise you?

FEIN: It doesn't, although it's certainly a bit afield from where they usually go. Generally speaking, "Playboy" gooses its circulation on the newsstands by a celebrity. This is a different kind of celebrity. But I guess, it being where we are in the media world, scandal is sort of today's celebrity, too. So, hey, why not.

HEMMER: Have they gone this to route before, John?

FEIN: Well, there was Paula Jones. There was Gennifer Flowers. Generally they try to get someone famous. And how famous, you know, doesn't really matter. The most recent cover was Tiffany, who some of us may remember from her mall tours as a girl singer in the early '80s.

HEMMER: Mall tours is a good way to put it. I mentioned that "Playboy" is a business. What are they finding out, in terms of competition right now, that they would go to this route to try and generate some publicity? You mentioned Paula Jones and others.

FEIN: Well, it's interesting. "Playboy," you know, is sort of the ultimate mens' title, and it was really kind of unchallenged king of hill for many, many years. And then in the mid-'90s you have this magazine called "Maxim" come along. And it's the weirdest thing, but somehow they discovered if you put a woman on the cover, who is wearing just a scrap of clothing, and is wearing just these teeny, teeny scraps of clothing on the inside, for some reason that sells as well or better than a woman completely naked, in the case of "Playboy."

HEMMER: And after they do this, John, what kind of success can you measure? Does it indeed pan out, or are there some flops involved in there as well?

FEIN: Well, one thing that "Playboy" has found out is that the most reliable way to get a good response, from consumers picking it up on the newsstand, which is the most popular way to sell magazines, is that, you know, when they put a celebrity on the cover, circulation tends to go kind of through the roof.

The biggest seller last year, they had Jerri from "Survivor" on. Normally they sell about 425,000 copies a month on the newsstand. With Jerri on it, they sold well over 600,000.

HEMMER: No disrespect to the women of Enron, but this is a private company. These are not celebrities that we're talking about, here.

FEIN: They're not celebrities. But what is celebrity these days? I mean, infamy is celebrity. Scandal is celebrity. And, it may not be a celebrity in the sense that Tiffany was sort of a minor celebrity. But this something we're talking about. This is something that everyone has been talking about. And it's just got enough of a kind of -- a weirdness factor to it, that -- all you're trying to do is to catch the eye of the guy walking by in the newsstand.

(CROSSTALK)

FEIN: It caught mine, as well, and probably lots of other guys as well.

HEMMER: What do you hear about ad sales? Clearly, there's a push in a lot of different areas to get them back pumped up again, because of the recent economic downturn. The economy may be improving, but what are you hearing overall?

FEIN: Well, spots of improvement, but it's very spotty. I mean, it's been a dreadful fourth quarter and a dreadful first quarter for magazines. That hasn't quite turned around yet. And "Playboy" is really no different from any others. I mean their ad pages haven't fallen off the way say, oh, industry Standard, or "Fortune" has. But they've been having tough times, like everyone else.

HEMMER: You call the weirdness, the women of Enron, we just heard a spokesperson say the response was tremendous, Have you heard otherwise?

FEIN: I haven't heard otherwise. I'll be very curious myself, although, I mean, you know, forgive me if I may choose to want to see a 25-year-old starlet rather than a 35-year-old accountant, but hey.

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: We a shall see soon, I guess, if indeed it goes forward. Thank you, John. Interesting thing. I think you put your finger on it, though. Weirdness is a pretty good way to describe it.

FEIN: Good talking to you.

HEMMER: You too. Pleasure. We'll talk again. Advertising agent there live, in New York City.

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