Note to publishing interests

If you have a little investment capital burning a hole in your pocket, I have a can't miss business venture: PopCulture - a progressive parenting magazine geared toward fathers. I've stumbled upon the motherlode of untapped consumer markets, a target demographic that is ripe for the plucking. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Isn't the market for parenting magazines pretty much saturated at this point?" Think again. The vast majority of these magazines are geared toward mothers, and those that aim for the broader target of the parent dyad largely address fathers as an afterthought. Fathers appear in a tiny fraction of ads in these magazines, and the preponderance of articles are by, about and for pregnant women and new mothers. When fathers are directly addressed, it's typically because we need to be cajoled into performing our parenting duties. Based on the image culled from these magazines, fathers are reluctant, incompetent, ambivalent, distant, and often downright negligent. The fathers in these magazines are stuck in a 1950's stereotype that was already becoming anachronistic by the time of my childhood during the 1970's. I'm just dipping my feet into the pool of fatherhood, but I can tell you now that my experience isn't going to fit the stereotype. I will be a breadwinner but also a primary caregiver. I look forward to being a stay-at-home dad, and feel a little sorry for Anna having to go back to work. I don't find housework emasculating, and I'm not even slightly invested in the social status that comes with a professional career. I look forward to afternoons at the park and matinees and visits to the children's museum and swimming at Barton Springs. The last thing you'll have to do is goad me into being a father. So, where is my magazine? And believe me, I've looked. There are magazines expressly targeted to fathers, but they generally fall into one of two categories: right-wing Christian propaganda of the PromiseKeepers variety, and bitter rags produced by and for angry, divorced single-parents. These magazines don't really speak to me as a father, y'know? So there's definitely an audience here. And it's not just stay-at-home dads. Most of the working fathers I know have spouses who also work, and even if their wives stay home, these guys share a good chunk of the parenting duties - and not reluctantly. It's just expected these days. It's part of a modern marriage. But you wouldn't know that by looking at the parenting magazines. We'll make billions. Because when I say motherlode of untapped consumer markets, I mean the end-all-be-all-grandaddy-behemoth of demographic segments. There is so much shit for expectant parents to buy, it's just mind-boggling. And I have no idea what kind of diapers to buy, or which baby food is best, or what toys my boy will not be able to live without. I need consumer guidance. Companies will be climbing over each other to get ad space. As an audience, we're an advertiser's wet dream. We'll choke on ad revenue, but if that's not enough for you, think of the spinoffs: PopCultureTV, the 24-hour Dad network; PopCulture-brand daddy-centric parenting paraphernalia; PopCulture fatherhood manuals and weekend seminars. Scads of money, right here.

So, if you are a magazine publisher, or have influential ties with someone in the magazine publishing industry, have your people call my people, and let's make this thing happen.

David Breshears
CEO/Founder
PopCulture
A Magazine of Modern Fathering