Elle Magazine: Retraction or Hoax?

April 22, 2008 at 9:45 pm · Filed under Calling All Anarchists, posted by ret marut


This month, as every month, I tromped over to Borders to purchase the new issue of Elle magazine. I was delighted to see that the May 2008 Elle is their third Green Issue; thanks to funding from Aveeno®, it’s even printed on 10 percent post-consumer recycled paper. But when I opened the magazine, I discovered a sticker pasted across one of the articles, as pictured here.

The article in question details the recent case in which an FBI employee infiltrated a group of young radicals, pressured them to carry out illegal activity, and lured them to a bugged cabin, at which they were arrested when it appeared that they were not going to go through with her plan. Eric McDavid, one of the arrestees, was recently convicted by a conflicted jury and faces up to 20 years in prison.

This sticker was in every single copy of the magazine in the store. Has anyone else come across this? Does anyone know whether this is really a retraction from the staff of Elle, or a hoax?

A pdf of the sticker is available here; as a point of reference. Please do not print this out and use it to sticker copies of Elle in other stores, if it turns out this is a hoax.

Elle magazine can be reached at:

subscriptions: elle@neodata.com
forums: http://forums.elle.com/
other inquiries: http://www.elle.com/aboutus/7939/contact-elle.html

Click here for another perspective on the article in Elle.

HaHahhaha said,

April 22, 2008 @ 10:57 pm

Ahahahaha

dont worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this! ;)

i’ll be sure to keep my eye out for these stickers…which just might be gettin to be more widespread if elle prints more copies heheh

Kristin said,

April 23, 2008 @ 6:18 am

hahaha i think maybe i’ll see some of those later today…

speaking of ELF though, I saw them on the “worst environmentalist list” for MSNBC next to some guy who thought global warming was a hoax

who the hell reads ELLE anyway??? i have so many questions but one thing is for sure:

Anna reminds me of stupid Horace Red Parker from the seattle 7, getting enthusiastic about her work and going far beyond what the government told her to do! I hope that they do to anne what they did to parker on trial.

apirka said,

April 23, 2008 @ 8:05 am

the sticker IS a hoax…

feralfury said,

April 23, 2008 @ 9:13 am

I realize that this is finding qualms with one statement in this blog, and that it isn’t the subject of the blog entry but something bothered me about this:
” I was delighted to see that the May 2008 Elle is their third Green Issue; thanks to funding from Aveeno®, it’s even printed on 10 percent post-consumer recycled paper”
How exactly can that be qualified as “green”? That’s the same bullshit that these corporate outlets like Wal-mart are selling us. This whole bullshit about everything being “green” that is recycled is just that, bullshit, recycling is an industrial process-industrialism being the very cause of global warming-just like the creation of the goods is, it may make less pollution and not be as bad for the environment as just manufacturing the goods, but to act as if it’s even going to contribute to slowing production and thus cutting down tree’s and such is a joke. What about the 90% of the paper that’s not recycled though? I’ve never read the magazine but from what I see on their website, they are just promoting consuming more shit, buying MORE things that we don’t need. Eco-clothing is a joke, what are the things they are using to create the clothing which people are supposed to buy? Cotton? Hemp? Are these clothes made from organic crops? Because otherwise they are using pesticides which isn’t sustainable. They more than likely used industrial fertilizers for those crops as well which are causing dead spots in the oceans. Agriculture in general isn’t sustainable, no matter how “green” iti s purported to be, agriculture has caused soil erosion since its inception and has resulted in deforestation as well as other environmental problems besides those two. We’re told solar panels are sustainable and green too, and so is windpower, but we ignore the environmental costs that come with them as well. How was the magazine made? What was the power source that the facility that made them used?
I’m not critical because some magazine isn’t doing everything it can be to be “green”, as it’s not possible. I’m critical over all this green bullshit because it’s just covering up the fact that civilization is by its very nature unsustainable, and making people feel all happy about things that aren’t making a damn bit of difference towards the overall picture, it’s just keeping us going within the same old circles, meanwhile the planet is dying.

Kristin said,

April 23, 2008 @ 9:15 am

feralfury:

i think they were being sarcastic. hence the sticker.

augy said,

April 23, 2008 @ 3:39 pm

I just got back from the Barnes & Noble here in St. Augustine, and I was shocked to see that every copy (about 7) of the Madonna Elle issue had these stickers on them. I literally could not believe it.

@dam said,

April 23, 2008 @ 4:09 pm

Interesting. I was enjoying my daily Vanilla Soy Latte(VSL) at Borders Book Store when I heard a nearby consumer mutter something about Madonna and the new “Green” issue of Elle. Intrigued, I skimmed the pages of said magazine and came upon this retraction. The fact that it was in every issue the store carried(15 copies) as well as every copy at Barnes and Noble(11 copies)–I checked later that day–leads me to conclude that this was in fact an official retraction.

It’s good to know the folks at Elle know have the professionalism to know when they’re wrong. A google search brought me to this site and I see that I’m not the only one who found these. Keep up the good work Elle!

writergirl said,

April 23, 2008 @ 8:48 pm

i work at elle. it’s a hoax. we didn’t retract the story. sorry there’s no mystery to solve. could have been fun…

Gerard Gales said,

April 23, 2008 @ 9:27 pm

A .pdf of the complete article can be downloaded from this site:

http://worcester.indymedia.org/node/25687

And nice to see that the stickers made it all the way to St. Aug. Ah, I miss that beach.

Elle Magazine: Retraction Or Hoax? « Save Feral Human Habitat said,

April 23, 2008 @ 9:52 pm

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April 24, 2008 @ 9:46 am

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feralfury said,

April 24, 2008 @ 9:47 pm

Kristin:
Could have been sarcasm but there was no indication that it was in my mind. It didn’t say, “their third ‘green’ issue”, and the opening statement of purchasing the magazine and that it is apparently a ritual thing sparked my comment. Maybe it was sarcasm and those who read this blog often know that, but I didn’t see any reason to find it as being sarcastic.

O.R.C. » The Strange Case of Anna, revisited said,

April 24, 2008 @ 11:29 pm

[...] it appears that either Elle has retracted the article, or someone has begun to detourn the magazine. (with stickers, the pdf of which is [...]

ret marut said,

April 25, 2008 @ 5:16 am

Feral Fury–

I know this is the 21st century, and no one actually bothers to get acquainted with a subject before they type about it, but a few moments perusing this website would have sufficed to protect you from this embarrassing misunderstanding. Your heart’s in the right place, but if you think the folks who maintain this blog scurry to the newsstand to buy Elle every month, you are as gullible as a judge at a bail hearing.

The Zaz Report! Funny Celebrity Gossip & Entertainment News! » Mother Nature: “Fame is a Double-Edged Sword” said,

April 25, 2008 @ 11:29 am

[...] In fact, Elle dedicated its 10% post-consumer green issue to Mother Nature, and even features an article on her security [...]

Elle Magazine punked by Eco warriors. « Vivre Magazine.com said,

April 25, 2008 @ 12:59 pm

[...] These stickers have been found in every issue in at least one bookstore. Anyone else encountered them? Read more [...]

feralfury said,

April 25, 2008 @ 5:26 pm

ret marut:
From what I have read of CrimethInc, I wouldn’t have thought that, but it’s not about being gullible, it’s about a misunderstanding of where the stances lie. There have been advertisements on myspace since at least last year regarding buying CrimethInc’s books which from what I have read from CrimethInc doesn’t seem right at all, but I figure if one thing seems out of place, why would it be wrong for something like this that seemed out of the place to not be true? Your hearts in the right place too, and I’m not trying to pick a fight or anything, but my misunderstanding wasn’t foolish, CrimethInc doesn’t have some set stance, and does have an embrace of hypocrisy, who am I to know the difference? I’m not coming from this perspective critical of CrimethInc either, as there has been some great material written in its name, but when I see someone bringing out the “green” name, I do get skeptical and there are a lot of people that buy into this notion, and given what I said earlier, it didn’t seem such a stretch to me.
Apparently I was wrong so I apologize for directing the comment at you while still obviously keeping my stance on the bullshit “green” label. [By the “green” label thing, I mean which is being thrown on everything by this system obviously, not the mention of “green” in this article.]

pfm said,

April 25, 2008 @ 5:46 pm

fyi, CrimethInc. Far East has never had any ads on myspace, ever. in fact, we’ve never done anything on myspace, at all.

Kristin said,

April 25, 2008 @ 6:10 pm

i never thought i’d read that devilish word on here: myspace

cringe

feralfury: lighten up and accept that you were duped along with elle. you have great ideas about environmentalism and i hope that you don’t stay so angry! take some frustration out on those mags by stickering them

Icecoveredpool said,

April 26, 2008 @ 7:34 pm

has anyone managed to crop kudzu? i was thinking that it would make a great way to go green in metropolitan areas. if anybodys got some, think you might be able to spare some seeds?

Native_Anarchist said,

April 28, 2008 @ 6:16 am

If you live in the south just stand still for awhile it will find you.
in all seriousness though I doubt finding seeds will be easy. I had the same idea as you and thought about it for awhile. I think the best option is just to get part of a plant, then replant it where desired. Oh also, I’m pretty sure it is illegal in some places, hence the difficulty finding seeds, depending where you’re located presently.

Green Is The New Red.com » Blog Archive » Like OMG! Elle Glams Up the Green Scare…And Issues a Retraction? said,

May 2, 2008 @ 12:02 pm

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