A whole different kind of cover story

If there was ever any question about the place of Glow in the panoply of real magazines, the book published by Shopper's Drug Mart out of Rogers Media pretty much answers with its current contest to have consumers select the cover image for the magazine.

The controlled magazine, which is not sold by subscription but is for sale on select newsstands, has essentially sold its cover image to one of its major advertisers, L'Oreal. People are invited (in store, by text message or online) to vote on which winsome young woman looks best on Glow's cover. Each participant is profiled on the Glow website [click on the headline above to go there], talking about their hopes, dreams and ailments.

It's not clear that the winner will actually show up on the magazine's cover, but the hookup is so blatant that it doesn't really matter. Glow is a custom publication, masquerading as a consumer magazine. And with this contest, the mask is slipping.