THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!
From the 7th Annual Shorty Awards

Man Seeking Woman - Average Male Magazine

Entered in Tumblr

Objectives

Ever wonder if that shirt can be worn again? If your 90's hatchback will impress girls? Subscribe to Average Male Magazine, the #1 fake magazine for ordinary dudes everywhere, to learn the answer. Average Male Magazine is a fully functioning interactive Tumblr site supporting the hyper-literal world of FXX's new comedy, Man Seeking Woman. With a rotating cover and featured articles, the site is a lively and dynamic parody of men's lifestyle magazines like Esquire and GQ. The fun really begins when fans dive into the content, which is a mix of creative illustrations inspired by the show, GIFs, and wholly original magazine content offering dating advice, style tips and feature articles targeting the Average Male.

Strategy and Execution

Average Male Magazine gives users a different look into the hyper-realistic world of Man Seeking Woman. Playing on the "average guy" character of show protagonist Josh Greenberg, the magazine provides followers with crazy, yet relatable magazine content with humorous titles such as "Is Your Imaginary Girlfriend Ruining Your Life," and "Six Ways to Rock a T-Shirt and Jeans," and "Tips To Dating Girls With Excess Baggage." In addition, the magazine features social graphics and GIFs sourced directly from the show, along with other content you might find in a magazine such as a PSA titled "Together We Can Stop Dick Pics" and a Godzilla style movie poster for "Tanaka: The Penis Monster From Another Dimension" that features Tanaka, the actual Japanese Penis Monster featured in episode 5 of Man Seeking Woman.

You can’t go wrong with a classic.

Beware the penis monster from another dimension!


The experience allows users to truly embrace the outrageousness of the show, and further delve into an alternate world where the absurd is the norm, and everyday problems, issues, fashions, and interests are celebrated with similar fervor to how today's magazines glorify the exceptional and obscure. The elastic, expansive, and accessible idea gives fans an out of the box companion piece that remains incredibly true to the tone of the series.

In addition to composing articles in house, FX also engaged with the Tumblr's "Creatrs Network" and commissioned Tumblr artists to create a suite of engaging AVG Male content. Users responded to the website with enthusiasm, and the Tumblr page quickly gained more than 9,000 fans after launch and drew attention from press outlets, such as Lost Remote. In short, FX created an incredibly unique site that offers users more than just typical "show content;" it gives them something truly original.

Rejection via…force field? 
-Gif by Matthias Brown

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

FX Networks

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Entry Credits