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Hearst has announced that it will be launching a Middle Eastern edition of Cosmopolitan magazine in cooperation with ITP Consumer Publishing.
“The Middle East has one of the youngest populations in the world so introducing a local edition of the world’s best-selling magazine for young women seems an obvious decision. Cosmopolitan is a colossal brand and we are looking forward to launching and developing it in this region,” Walid Akawi, the chief executive of ITP Group Holdings, the parent company of ITP Consumer Publishing, told the NY Times.
What we want to know is: What the heck is Cosmopolitan Middle East going to be about? Some of our favorite coverlines from recent American issues—Orgasm Virgins: How they went from "Um, not yet" to "OMG, yes!", 60 Sex tips, Be a sex genius, Arouse him like crazy!, Dirty Sexy Sex, and Secrets of male arousal—probably wouldn't, you know, fly in the Middle East. The NY Times concurs:
Judging by the U.S. version of the Web site, the Cosmo formula will probably need a bit of tweaking to land well in the region: “A Girl’s Guide to Oral Sex” and the “How to Score the Big O Everytime,” might connect in some of the, yes, more cosmopolitan parts of the region, but might raise hackles in more religiously conservative areas.· Cosmo Goes Beyond the Burqa in the Middle East [NY Times]
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