Page 123 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

112 • Sport, Media and Society

Case Study: Crush—Luxury, Lifestyle and Women’s Golf

Crush was an official magazine publication of the Ladies Professional Golf Asso-
ciation (LPGA) launched in 2004. It was described by the LPGA as a glossy maga-
zine printed on high-quality paper in two sizes: a full-sized ‘luxury’ version and a
more compact version for LPGA tour events. The premiere issue contained articles

about LPGA players and items on fashion, finance, golf accessories, beauty, food
and travel.

The cover of the first issue of Crush featured the golfer Annika Sorenstam set
within a blurred landscape beneath a cloudless blue sky. The picture on the cover
depicted Sorenstam in profile at the end of a golf swing, her gaze seeming to follow

the trajectory of the ball. Sorenstam was wearing specialist golf clothing—visor,
sunglasses, polo shirt and belted black pants—which gave her a streamlined, athletic
look. Her sponsor’s Kraft logo was clearly visible on the back of her shirt. The over-
all impression of the image was one of professionalism and focus.
The title of the magazine ran across the top of the page in white lettering. The title

was embossed with a glossy finish and was positioned next to the LPGA logo, which
depicted, as a white silhouette against a black background, a female golfer in a posi-
tion similar to Sorenstam’s. Four separate font styles were used on the cover. The font

for the title, crush, used thick capitals with flourishes at the ends of the letters. This
font appeared again in a smaller version in the sell lines at the bottom of the page in
both white and shocking pink. The same magenta was used in the large, rounded, sans
serif letters underneath the cover image, which announced ‘annika!’ in lower case,
and another cursive handwriting font declared the magazine to be the ‘premier issue’
just below on the right. Despite the variety of styles, the lettering was consistently
decorative, friendly and feminine. However, even with the attention to typography,
the words on the cover gave little information about what was inside, being confi ned
to vague hints, for example, ‘Girls Vs. Boys’, ‘Viva Ochoa’ and ‘Is Golf Sexy?’
The look and feel of the cover connoted wealth and femininity. The lack of in-
formative text and multiple font types indicated that the design of the cover was at-
tempting to address the readership in terms of style more than substance. The weight
and texture of the paper suggested class and status.
The strong, sporting pose of the cover image, combined with the pink and white
decorative lettering, signified an idealised reader who aspired to be physically active

within the context of conventional, heterosexual femininity. This refl ects a continu-
ing tendency by the media to represent sporting female bodies within the confi nes of
acceptable norms of female physicality (Bernstein 2002; Billings and Eastman 2002;
Daddario 1998; Duncan and Messner 1998; Spencer 2003).
Characteristics of the ideal reader were discernible in the type of goods and ser-
vices on offer throughout the magazine. The magazine contained advertisements
for fine alcohol, high-specification electronic goods, home wares, health care plans,

invitations to invest in gold and upmarket resorts. The advertisements addressed