On Thursday, Donald Trump lashed out at Vanity Fair for their scathing review of Trump Grill, saying the publication’s numbers are dwindling. His angry words have backfired, for Folio reports that the magazine’s online traffic and subscription numbers have actually improved “100 fold.”
Trump’s anger stemmed from Vanity Fair’s aptly titled “Trump Grill Could Be The Worst Restaurant In America” article, which wasn’t restrained in its criticisms. There were varying critiques concerning the Grill’s menu, which Trump has championed in the past. He didn’t take too kindly to these criticisms, but Vanity Fair has seen a bump in activity since being called out by the president-elect.
The article has acquired 1 million unique views since Thursday, according to Conde Nast. On top of that, over 330,000 unique visitors have read other stories on the website’s Hive section, and the magazine has secured approximately 10,000 new Twitter followers. While these jumps may seem just like overnight successes, Folio said Vanity Fair has been doing alright for itself the past year:
“Vanity Fair has seen a 2 percent increase in revenues YoY, and is set to be profitable in 2016, according to Condé Nast. Digital revenues are up 74 percent YoY, and make up 18 percent of the brand’s overall revenue. This is up from 11 percent of the overall revenues in 2015.
Circulation is up 2.8 percent at the magazine, according to the AAM statements for June 2015/2016. The mid-year audit posted the magazine’s circulation at 1,232,588, compared to 1,197,922 in 2015.
In addition, VF.com had 14.3 million unique views in October, according to ComScore — a 26.5 percent increase YoY.”
And the publication is playing up their latest brush with the president-elect with their website banner: “The Magazine Trump Doesn’t Want You To Read. Subscribe Now!”
(Via Folio & Vanity Fair)