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PLASTIC SURGERY NEWS, SURGERY NEWS, COSMETIC SURGERY NEWS Current NEWS  |
Tuck into a magazine on plastic surgery
February 18, 2005
BY WENDY DONAHUE
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
It was only a matter of time before a magazine dedicated itself to the latest cosmetic surgery treatments, along with over-the-counter cosmetic products.
Enter the 250-page premiere issue of NewBeauty, a publication that emerged, fittingly, from Boca Raton, Fla., which Self magazine recently dubbed the vainest place in the United States.
Two more issues of NewBeauty, priced at $9.95, will publish in 2005.
"The whole idea when we started down the road two years ago was to create this brand that people will know to turn to whenever they have cosmetic enhancement questions," said publisher Adam Sandow, who started theknot.com, a wedding Web site. "I was amazed there wasn't a trusted brand that existed."
In an effort to become one, NewBeauty established an 11-member advisory board, including past presidents of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and doctors such as Dr. Dean Toriumi, a facial plastic surgeon and professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Hairstylist Frederic Fekkai also is on the board. "In many cases, our solutions are non-surgical," Sandow explained.
At least two board members vet all articles and advertisements to weed out "puffery or fringe science," Sandow said, and to ensure the doctors carry relevant certification. That may be from the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the American Board of Dermatology, for example.
Sandow said the magazine has rejected six figures' worth of ads. Spas are allowed to promote medical procedures only if they have a board-certified doctor on the premises or affiliated with it.
Yet Sandow knows he can't please everybody in a complicated realm that the mass media -- TV reality shows in particular -- often trivialize.
A lightning rod in NewBeauty's 13 regional editions are the advertorial doctor profiles at the back. An introduction states that they are paid listings.
But the full-page profiles, presented in interview format with a headline and photo, could be mistaken for editorial endorsements.
Plus, in some circles, a prejudice persists against doctors advertising, although the American Medical Association, on urging from the Federal Trade Commission, lifted the ban years ago.
"A number of us have still not adapted, though it's not considered unethical anymore, at least legally," said Dr. Peter Fodor, the current president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, whose practice is in Los Angeles.
His society's code of ethics permits advertising by its members as long as it's not misleading -- using a photo of a model with text that falsely implies she has been a patient, for instance.
The profiles list board certifications, alma maters, affiliations, office locations and phone numbers, as well as the doctors' areas of focus and philosophy.
Whether the market can support the magazine remains to be seen, said Steven Cohn, editor in chief of Media Industry Newsletter.
"You've got to be pretty wealthy to afford a lot of these procedures," Cohn said, "but, obviously, this is a booming business, because everyone wants to look young."
http://www.freep.com/features/living/beauty18e_20050218.htm
