Editor Dominic Smith Frequency Weekly Year founded 2004 | Categories Men's magazines Publisher IPC Media | |
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Circulation 53,342 (ABC Jul - Dec 2013)Print | ||
Nuts was a British lads' mag published weekly in the United Kingdom and sold every Tuesday. Nuts' marketing campaign at its launch in 2004 used the slogan, "When You Really Need Something Funny".
Contents
The magazine closed in April 2014.
Sector profile
Nuts' main rival magazine was Zoo Weekly, which is aimed at much the same demographic, 18–30 men, and contains similar content. However, since the start of the respective magazines, Nuts always outsold Zoo, with the sales figures for the later half of 2013 showing a gap of nearly 25,000 copies per week. Other magazines in competition with Nuts were Zip and men's monthly publications such as FHM and Loaded.
Decline and closure
The circulation of the magazine declined from 2007 onwards. The average number of copies sold in the second half of 2013 was 53,342, whereas the magazine had sales of 306,802 at its peak in 2005.
On 8 August 2013, Dominic Smith, the magazine's editor, announced that their publication would no longer be sold by Co-op supermarkets. Smith withdrew the publication in response to the Co-op's request for publishers to put their 'lads' mags' in modesty bags to mask their explicit front covers. The Co-op said that it was responding to consumer concern.
In March 2014 IPC Media announced that Nuts might soon cease publication after a 30-day consultation with staff. Digital monthly sales of 8,776 (Jul-Dec 2013) suggested to industry observers that the magazine was not making a successful transition to an online platform.
The magazine's last issue was published on 29 April 2014. Lucy Pinder, who was a regular model for Nuts, appeared on the cover of the last issue. The Independent journalist Ella Alexander wrote at the time: "The magazine stayed true to its ethos right until the bitter end – passive, unthreatening, with (objectified versions of) women for everyone."