An Open Letter to the Editors of Bull's Eye News Magazine (BEN)
To: BEN
Jay Tomlinson
FM "Mike" Harris
RE: Comments from a BEN Subscriber and Passionate Darter
Dear Jay and Mike,
The best advertisement in the Sep/Oct '2008 issue of BEN is the advertisement for Laser Darts, specifically the ad for the Black Widow darts. This ad appeals to me with the graphic and the fly, the verbiage "Deadly Accurate" and style of the font (red with jagged edges as if bloody after the black widow has killed its prey and walks away triumphantly after winning the match), as well as the information about the shafts, points and barrel. I also loved the humor in that "No flies were harmed in the making of this ad."
That said, maybe I'm too naive with regard to publishing a magazine about darts that gets people excited. You obviously need advertising dollars to publish BEN. And maybe I'm not the demographic that your advertisers are appealing to (a female darter) but I am a passionate darter and as a consumer, I do spend my money on darts and dart related products (case in point, multiple BEN subscriptions). My point? I don't need the image of woman straddling a dart in ecstasy in order to get me excited about darts and dart products. Nor do I want or need "Rough Riders" or the image of a chick provocatively holding a dart with her low-riding denim shorts unbuttoned, with the verbiage "All my men use Voks Darts."
What's next? Safe sex warnings? Advertisements in BEN for condom companies and KY? Viagra? My personal consumer dollars will not be spent on SLYDART or with Voks Darts.
Hopefully a class act like BEN doesn't become too much of a crass ass act that male youth darters are stuffing under their mattress.
Steve Brown's article is great and I hope to see more of this in future issues of BEN - however, one article for the amateur passionate darter on improving their game, every other month, is not a lot. I really, really hope to see more like this as well as more on the mental aspect of the game. I know I want it all, and I want it all right now, but couldn't there be at least 3 content heavy articles in each issue of BEN covering '01, cricket AND the mental aspect of the game? Why are we given only a single article on either Thermonuclear Cricket OR '01 out strategy? Yes, I want it all and I wager to guess that most other BEN subscribers want the same thing as well.
Dartoid's book review of "The Dart League King" is interesting, but what he does best is his personal commentary on the world of darts. Whether I agree with him or not, or whether I even understand everything he writes about or not, I enjoy his style, humor, flair and so on. After putting down this issue of BEN, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Dartoid was on vacation for this issue...
I also hope you can help me understand more about the Las Vegas Desert Classic VII. There wasn't any mention in BEN of a women's competition. Yet, a fellow darter who was there shared with me that there was indeed a women's event with about 15 spectators. Was there a women's event? Doesn't this garnish mentioning in the pages of BEN? You do have female subscribers, don't you?
With regard to the '2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, the time for BEN to start getting people excited about this tournament and traveling to Vegas to be there next year, is NOW. To write about it afterwards saying how sad it was that the spectators were mostly Brits (and not Americans) is simply too late. By the time the tournament rolls around, most people have already made other plans. Darters need to be reminded NOW why they need to plan to be there - why they have to be there, and why they should want to be there!
I hope this E-mail hasn't been too critical - if I didn't care or didn't believe in BEN, I wouldn't write to you, I wouldn't have many, many links to BEN from my website, and I certainly wouldn't continue to have multiple subscriptions.
Thanks for considering my point of view...
Warm regards,
Sherilyn J. Herkey
Jay Tomlinson
FM "Mike" Harris
RE: Comments from a BEN Subscriber and Passionate Darter
Dear Jay and Mike,
The best advertisement in the Sep/Oct '2008 issue of BEN is the advertisement for Laser Darts, specifically the ad for the Black Widow darts. This ad appeals to me with the graphic and the fly, the verbiage "Deadly Accurate" and style of the font (red with jagged edges as if bloody after the black widow has killed its prey and walks away triumphantly after winning the match), as well as the information about the shafts, points and barrel. I also loved the humor in that "No flies were harmed in the making of this ad."
That said, maybe I'm too naive with regard to publishing a magazine about darts that gets people excited. You obviously need advertising dollars to publish BEN. And maybe I'm not the demographic that your advertisers are appealing to (a female darter) but I am a passionate darter and as a consumer, I do spend my money on darts and dart related products (case in point, multiple BEN subscriptions). My point? I don't need the image of woman straddling a dart in ecstasy in order to get me excited about darts and dart products. Nor do I want or need "Rough Riders" or the image of a chick provocatively holding a dart with her low-riding denim shorts unbuttoned, with the verbiage "All my men use Voks Darts."
What's next? Safe sex warnings? Advertisements in BEN for condom companies and KY? Viagra? My personal consumer dollars will not be spent on SLYDART or with Voks Darts.
Hopefully a class act like BEN doesn't become too much of a crass ass act that male youth darters are stuffing under their mattress.
Steve Brown's article is great and I hope to see more of this in future issues of BEN - however, one article for the amateur passionate darter on improving their game, every other month, is not a lot. I really, really hope to see more like this as well as more on the mental aspect of the game. I know I want it all, and I want it all right now, but couldn't there be at least 3 content heavy articles in each issue of BEN covering '01, cricket AND the mental aspect of the game? Why are we given only a single article on either Thermonuclear Cricket OR '01 out strategy? Yes, I want it all and I wager to guess that most other BEN subscribers want the same thing as well.
Dartoid's book review of "The Dart League King" is interesting, but what he does best is his personal commentary on the world of darts. Whether I agree with him or not, or whether I even understand everything he writes about or not, I enjoy his style, humor, flair and so on. After putting down this issue of BEN, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Dartoid was on vacation for this issue...
I also hope you can help me understand more about the Las Vegas Desert Classic VII. There wasn't any mention in BEN of a women's competition. Yet, a fellow darter who was there shared with me that there was indeed a women's event with about 15 spectators. Was there a women's event? Doesn't this garnish mentioning in the pages of BEN? You do have female subscribers, don't you?
With regard to the '2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic, the time for BEN to start getting people excited about this tournament and traveling to Vegas to be there next year, is NOW. To write about it afterwards saying how sad it was that the spectators were mostly Brits (and not Americans) is simply too late. By the time the tournament rolls around, most people have already made other plans. Darters need to be reminded NOW why they need to plan to be there - why they have to be there, and why they should want to be there!
I hope this E-mail hasn't been too critical - if I didn't care or didn't believe in BEN, I wouldn't write to you, I wouldn't have many, many links to BEN from my website, and I certainly wouldn't continue to have multiple subscriptions.
Thanks for considering my point of view...
Warm regards,
Sherilyn J. Herkey
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