The Truth About What Customers Want

Chapter 10. He who dies with the most toys wins

More than 8.2 million women in 50 countries read versions of Cosmopolitan in 28 different languages—even though, because of local norms about modesty, some of them have to hide the magazine from their husbands! Adapting the Cosmo credo of “Fun, Fearless Female” in all these places gets a bit tricky. Different cultures emphasize varying belief systems that define what it means to be female, feminine, or appealing—and what is considered appropriate to see in print on these matters. Publishers of the Chinese version aren’t permitted to mention sex at all, so articles about uplifting cleavage are replaced by uplifting stories about youthful dedication. Ironically, there isn’t much down-and-dirty material ...