Brazilian Press: Lolita
to the RescueAdvertisers don't want circulation but money to ensure their survival. The middle or upper-middle classes, who buy expensive items, never stopped buying papers. Grocery stores and electronics/appliance stores know that consumers will only come back when the economy improves.
by Alberto Dines
Brazzil
Media
June 2003
The Bolha group (Globo—Folha de S.Paulo) is back with a new promotion, this one a collectible: a library of novels, or 30 "landmarks of contemporary literature". Readers will get the first volume for free and the others will be sold at R$ 11.50 (US$ 4).
The lure—and an irresistible one—will be Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. I wouldn't call the book a literary "landmark", but it's definitely an opportunity to reach pinnacles of readership, especially when you consider the fact that it will be a gift.
Moral degenerates of all sizes are sure to expend the mere R$ 3.50 (US$ 1.20) of the cover price of the newspaper in exchange for some indescribable moments, but there's no guarantee that they will be willing to invest, Sunday after Sunday, in the library in question. No big deal. The partners wish to blab about the feat of selling a million lolitas together. What we have here is quality journalism: newspapers in the trash and the unforgettable woman-child on the bed-side table.
What could be the benefit of this investment? To raise circulation back above the half million mark? On the first Sunday, they'll get there. Newsstands might actually run out of the paper. After that, it's another story. Circulation is not what advertisers are after. What they want is the money to ensure their survival. In São Paulo, the biggest advertisers are in the real estate business and all those high-rise residential or commercial launchings that justify a whole page or a double page of the newspaper are aimed at the middle or upper-middle classes who never stopped buying papers. Grocery stores and electronics/appliance stores know that consumers will only come back when the economic situation gets out of the tight spot.
It's money thrown out the window, at a time when journalistic companies are counting their pennies and firing their best staff.
Alberto Dines, the author, is a journalist, founder and researcher at LABJOR—Laboratório de Estudos Avançados em Jornalismo (Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism) at UNICAMP (University of Campinas) and editor of the Observatório da Imprensa. He also writes a column on cultural issues for the Rio daily Jornal do Brasil. You can reach him by email at obsimp@ig.com.br
Translated by Tereza Braga, email: tbragaling@cs.com
This article was originally published in Observatório da Imprensa — www.observatoriodaimprensa.com.br