Ads Will Finance Mad’s Switch to Color
Mad magazine has started taking ads. After holding out for nearly 50 years, the caretakers of the American humor institution have finally buckled, citing the need for more revenue to cover a long-awaited switch to full-color publication.
John Ficarra, co-editor of the magazine, said that to finance the switch to full color, the magazine either had to take ads or drastically raise its $2.99 cover price.
Mad won’t disclose any financial data, but its circulation has declined sharply since the early 1970s, when it hit a peak of 2.3 million, and currently stands around 250,000. Mad is owned by a division of AOL Time Warner Inc.
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