Brat, the first
large-scale UK teen lifestyle magazine for both sexes, has been
launched in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of
Man, writes Colin Crummy.
Produced by publishers Globalclub, a youth organisation based in Northern Ireland, Brat is aimed at 15- to 16-year-olds.
It mixes celebrity, music and sport with sex, school, health and careers advice.
The magazine has separate sections for boys and girls, but a unisex problem page with Radio 1 agony uncle Dr Mark Hamilton.
With a distribution of 25,000, there are plans to expand across the UK, starting with Scotland.
Editor
Paul McNamee said that the non-gender specific approach would work:
“It’s very clear that boys would get the piss taken out of them for
reading something about girls.
“But my own gut feeling is that
boys of 14 and 15 are incredibly curious about what’s going on in
girls’ minds. Rather than having to read their sister’s magazine they
can read this now and happily flick back to a piece about a Premiership
footballer or their favourite band.”
But Top of the Pops magazine
editor Peter Hart said dividing the magazine into boys and girl’s
sections meant readers would feel they only got “half a magazine”.
He
added: “It’s very difficult to get the balance right in a magazine that
would appeal to both sexes. It’s the embarrassment factor – a
15-year-old boy won’t want to be seen with a magazine that’s got an
interview with someone from The OC inside.”
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