Before the election I wondered here on AT why luxury good retailers continued to advertise heavily in publications that had so strong a leftward bias that should their favorite candidates win election, it would cost the retailers their customers when the government bill came due. So it comes as no surprise to me that Conde Nast which has managed to pepper every one of its publications (including this month's Gourmet magazine) with leftist propaganda, has been particularly hard hit by a loss of advertising revenue from these retailers: The publisher is reeling more than its rivals, as luxury-goods retailers hoard their ad dollars. While the industry is down 24 percent in ad pages so far in the first quarter, many of Condé's venerable titles are down 30 percent. Start-up mag Portfolio is down a staggering 60 percent, while Wired is off 57 percent.
"They are having the worst year of any publisher," said one rival executive who once worked at Condé Nast and said the company's recent cuts of 5 percent each on expenses and staffing isn't enough.
Maybe ACORN can pick up the slack.
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