Comments on: I don’t need no stinkin’ magazines

By: walt

walt — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:25:10 +0000

Nancy, I hear what you’re saying about Macy’s–and it’s getting worse, as the stripped ads are now bound into the inserts instead of being separate pieces. Most Sunday Macy’s inserts go directly into the recycling bin, so that my wife can handle the rest of the paper. Funny how none of the other stores feel the need to stink us out.

And, yep, ekeby, the December CNTraveler once again had perfume ads. My wife doesn’t read Conde Nast Traveler anyway because the paper itself stinks a little–and I now believe I’ll stop subscribing, given the company’s attitude regarding the health of its subscribers.

By: Nancy Michelli

Nancy Michelli — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:09:51 +0000

I have written/called Macy’s regarding their perfume inserts in Sunday ads. They basically told me “tough s__t! They care at all about whether it bothers a lot of people as long as their sales are high. I also was unsucessful with my local newspaper. They were only concerned with the money they receive from Macy’s to include their ads.

For someone like me the smell never dissipates. You have to burn anything that’s contaminated in order to get rid of the smell. Then I would have a 55 gallon drum burning out in my driveway 24/7 like the homeless.

If the idiots that use the nasty stuff can’t figure out that they are poisoning everyone they come near as well as themselves, than it ought to be regulated as strictly as cigarette smoke.

I have never had any magazine offer scent free versions. And also have battled some companies due to their perfumed bills even though there are no inserts.

There shouldn’t even be a question that no toxic chemicals should be sent to your private home without your consent.

By: ekeby

ekeby — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:47:36 +0000

This months’ (December) Gourmet and the November 27 2006 New Yorker are now carrying perfume ads that stink. I have always requested perfume-free magazines from publishers. I called Conde Nast and was told that they no longer offer perfume-free magazines. Several years ago the New Yorker ran a perfume ad and the response from readers was so great they cancelled them. I can’t believe they’re doing it again. I predict a similar outcry.

By: walt

walt — Tue, 02 May 2006 17:47:32 +0000

Lynn–May I just say thank you! I sent email to Conde Nast on Saturday or Sunday; I received a response today saying they’ll put me on the special “no scent strips” subscription list. Without your comment, I would never have guessed that magazines have special “no scent strips” subscription lists.

I guess when you really need to know, it pays to ask a librarian.

Thanks again.

By: walt

walt — Mon, 01 May 2006 17:26:20 +0000

Kelly, I don't think it takes months; I think that the scent will die down in a day or two in a well-ventilated space. Whew. I have to admit that, as a library user, having ad pages ripped out in general would bother me a little, at least in some areas. I did a series of articles on the history of personal computing at ome point, and most of the raw material for that series came from ads in the bound copies of PC Magazine in a nearby small academic library. Always a set of tradeoffs.

By: Kelly G

Kelly G — Mon, 01 May 2006 17:18:17 +0000

I can sympathize with your wife! More than once I’ve been sent gasping for an inhaler. Yes, I do use perfume – free soaps, detergents etc. However, those are for the itch more than the scent. I’m thankful that I am not as sensitive as some. I find I am ok reading magazines that one would expect to have those inserts at the doctor’s office. Some, I suppose order the no perfume versions. Some look like they’ve ripped out advertisements so I’m not so sure. Perhaps a few months after the stinky paper is ripped out the scent dies down?

I was a serials manager once upon a time — but it was in an academic branch library that only housed technical & computer engineering, library science, and education materials. Thus, we did not have scent invasions. None-the-less our staff tore out all of those space wasting thick advertising pages.

Of course, it doesn’t help the person doing the ripping out — nor is it usually worth the wait

By: walt

walt — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:44:32 +0000

Lynn: Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try that out.

Miss Molly: Yes and no. It’s certainly a good point. There are different levels of sensitivity. My wife’s nowhere near the level you appear to suffer (fortunately). “Knocked out by our mail” considerably overstates the case; I’m talking about perfume strips, which are deliberate offenders–many times worse than normal paper/ink problems.

By: Miss Molly

Miss Molly — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 00:53:10 +0000

You guys who are getting knocked out by your mail are all using fragrance-free laundry detergent, shampoo, and household cleaning products, right? That’s the thing I wish I had learned before the perfume/ink problems I had went south. I had to get rid of all my books; unless my mail is a bill it goes straight to the recycling bin.

And stay out of car exhaust, too.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 22:41:19 +0000

Walt – At MFPOW in a smallish public library in South Texas I made a point of requesting that our magazine vendor (EBSCO) request no perfume pages for every magazine to which we subscribed. I also made this request for each newspaper. I was always accommodated and only once did I have to pay more for the subscription. I make the same request for personal subscriptions as well. Perhaps Conde Nast has a similar service? — Lynn

By: walt

walt — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 20:32:44 +0000

Mark–That’s what I didn’t add: I’m not asthmatic, but the stinkiest magazines give me trouble too. Amanda: Interesting–that perfume peddlers would stink up travel magazines rather than women’s magazines.