Washingtonian Magazine Borrows a Page out of Our Playbook

Posted on October 6th, 2009 12:30pm by Tim Rogers
Filed under Media

What you see here is the October cover of Washingtonian magazine. Is it just me? Does it remind you of our infamous September 2007 cover, the one that got us kicked out of Sprouts, the one that was among our all-time bestsellers? As someone who has “borrowed” a cover concept before from another city magazine, I will say that we are flattered. But two things to keep in mind: 1) People in North Texas have strong feelings about Southlake. There are people who hate it. And there are people who love it. (I would put Southlakers into this latter category.) In contrast to Southlake, I’d wager that there are very few people in the greater Washington, D.C., area who have strong feelings about “this school.” And 2), in my experience, it’s better to have the kids looking at the camera rather than paperwork. Helpfully,

southlake

10 comments

  1. Ah yes… I believe that was the beginning of your D-Magazine Cover curse?

    @ 1:04 pm on October 6, 2009

  2. I see your point about the cover title – very similar, yes – but as someone who went to college with a bunch of alums from the DC school in question (Thomas Jefferson – TJ locally), there is a lot of envy. Especially when it comes down to the college admissions process. TJ kids have a lot of college doors open to them, and it’s a public school. It’s no Southlake in terms of strength and looks per se, but for those students and families in the area, TJ definitely a school that evokes strong feelings…

    @ 1:29 pm on October 6, 2009

  3. I think the point Tim was trying to make here, Former Washingtonian, was that the words “This School” are far less interesting than actually naming said school.

    It just doesn’t engage the way the D cover did.

    @ 1:57 pm on October 6, 2009

  4. But “Why You Should Hate Thomas Jefferson” might have been confusing.

    @ 1:59 pm on October 6, 2009

  5. It clicked for me immediately, both the fact that they were copying D and the fact that they did a poor job. They should have thought of their own idea.

    @ 2:04 pm on October 6, 2009

  6. they could have at least Re-Tweeted you guys with the RT and @ gezzz.

    @ 3:57 pm on October 6, 2009

  7. I thought I might have been the only one who has a subscription to both mags. TJ is a much better (academically) school than Southlake is and certainly does not compare athletically. I would imagine that it is also far more diverse than Southlake and is definitely in a far out suburb.

    @ 4:33 pm on October 6, 2009

  8. that should read that TJ is not in a far out suburb.

    @ 4:34 pm on October 6, 2009

  9. @DMBurrows: I’m giggling at the thought of a re-tweeted headline on a magazine. And I’m wondering how we can “borrow” that concept from you. You won’t mind when we don’t credit you, right?

    @ 8:23 pm on October 6, 2009

  10. I am a TJ alum, and I can tell you that the title has created major commotion in the DC area within the Jefferson community as well as our “haters”, of which there are plenty. Apparently the article is flattering towards our school (I am waiting for my mom to mail me a copy as you can only read a small excerpt online), but the cover caused a big stir – which for magazine sales I’m sure is a good thing. I had no clue that they stole the idea from DMag but I think it was plenty incendiary and the idea worked! And the cover picture with Jeff kids (as we call ourselves) poring over paperwork sums it up pretty well. They are probably comparing grades!

    @ 8:35 pm on October 6, 2009

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