Got suede?

Vegetarian Times, Nov, 2002 by Michelle MacDonald

I can't wait to receive your magazine every month, as it's always filled with awesome recipes and interesting articles. But in the past several issues, I've started flipping through the pages and noticed an ad for suede Birkenstocks. It just somehow seems inappropriate for a vegetarian magazine to advertise a leather product. I think that most of us who don't want to eat animals really don't want to wear them either. Other than this one irritating advertisement, I think Vegetarian Times is great.

Michelle MacDonald
Via email

This is an age-old issue, eloquently replied to by VT founder Paul Obis in the January 1988 issue:

"All publishers are, at some time, presented with advertising that challenges their publications' standards of acceptability. Traditionally, we have had what is undoubtedly one of the most stringent advertising policies of any publication. As a food magazine we will not run ads for organic meats, seafood and so forth; as a health magazine we do not accept advertising for fish oils, bone meal or glandular supplements; on grounds of reader protection we reject ads for get-rich-quick schemes and other ads simply because we don't think they are appropriate. For example, we recently rejected an ad for organic tobacco cigarettes and a classified ad from a couple seeking to adopt a white baby.

In spite of these guidelines, it's not always easy to make a judgment call. A recent ad for handgun control, for example, generated a surprisingly large number of letters and subscription cancellations. Similarly, last year, several readers wrote to express their indignance with an ad for Zen Master Rama, not because they objected to Zen Buddhism, but because The Master Rama was wearing a leather jacket.

It would be easy to simply follow a strict line, accepting advertising only for produce grown organically on forms of 40 acres or less and within 500 miles of your home, but being too restrictive would be costly and unwise. After all, magazines depend on advertising to pay expenses. Without our advertisers, a one-year subscription would Cost about $40, which would mean fewer readers, in turn leading to even higher rates. Moreover, advertising provides an important service by keeping readers informed about products and services that might be of interest.

Your letters, critical as some have been, nevertheless help to strengthen our advertising standards."

Although our advertising sales team is extremely sensitive to the vegetarian sensibility, our advertising and editorial teams remain "church and state," neither condoning nor condemning each other's choices. We only hope that you'll continue to enjoy VT's editorial content.