Lads’ mag ‘Loaded’ reboots with digital version promising to ‘relive glory days’
It billed itself as the magazine “for men who should know better”. And when Loaded went out of print in 2015, critics heralded its demise as a sign that the “lad culture” which had taken hold in the 1990s – offcolour jokes, binge drinking and scantily clad women on magazine covers – was giving way to more enlightened times.
And now Loaded is back, relaunched in a self-proclaimed “digital rebellion” that promises it will not “bow to the latest ideas around manhood”.
A spokesperson said: “In today’s unsettling world, with the threat of destruction looming and environmental catastrophe hanging over us, sometimes all we want to do is relive our glory days. And then make them happen all over again.”
Launched in 1994, the original “lad’s mag” became one Britain’s best-selling publications, courting controversy with its non-PC approach.
Front covers typically featured models in little to no clothing, with fashion, music, football and tales of alcohol-fuelled excess dominating the inner pages.
The last physical copy was published in 2015. An online version was short-lived.
The relaunched digital magazine pays tribute to Loaded’s origins, with a video and interview with Elizabeth Hurley, who appeared on the print magazine’s first cover.
“We are building a space for straight talk, epic experiences and a community that celebrates who men really are,” the spokesperson added. The executive editor of the rebooted magazine is Danni Levy, a former editor of Muscle and Health magazine who has appeared on television as a fitness expert.
At its peak in the second half of 1998, Loaded had monthly sales of 457,318, making it one of the leading players in the magazine sector.
Along with FHM, it spawned a series of similar publications, including Maxim, Nuts and Zoo.
The magazine was consistently criticised by feminists for its depiction of women, which some argue verged on pornographic.
Loaded’s founding editor James Brown told Press Gazette last year that many of its covers featured men, including the actor Gary Oldman and musician Noel Gallagher.
The relaunched digital version is previewing July’s Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul boxing fight in Texas alongside an interview with the rapper Bugzy Malone.