Nothing ‘cute' about Popular Mechanics

In a dramatic departure from its usual fare – giant machines, space exploration, robots and other technological marvels – the February cover features a very cute baby. Eyes closed, its expression one of utter contentment, the infant appears to be meditating. However, since we're talking about Popular Mechanics here, the feature is not quite what it seems (the skull cap studded with electrodes is one of the more obvious hints).

Editor Alan Duggan says the cover image stirred more debate in his office than any other since the magazine's launch in August 2002. “For a start, we had just notched up our biggest-ever sale, and the last thing we wanted to do was compromise our circulation growth. Then we had to consider the demographics: Popular Mechanics readers remain predominantly male – and males are weird, idiosyncratic animals.

“Flying in the face of logic, a surprising number would have us believe that they entered the world as mature, rational adults, flatly denying that they had ever been babies themselves. We also had to consider the ‘cute' factor. Popular Mechanics is not a cute magazine, and doesn't feature cute stories.

“However, we decided to go for it because the story was about legitimate science – in this case, research into the cognitive development of infants – and the picture was a perfect match. We're backing the issue with radio commercials, a modest-sized print campaign, and below-the-line strategies that will hopefully haul in some new readers.”

In October 2004, the South African edition achieved another “first” for the international Popular Mechanics brand when it featured the face of an attractive woman on the cover. She was wearing virtual reality headgear, explained Duggan, so the image was perfectly appropriate.

He was seriously considering using the word “sex” in a cover line, added Duggan. “Naturally, it would be applied only in a technological context. Anything else would be tacky.”