Selling Yoga ‘Off the Mat’: A 10-year Analysis of Lifestyle Advertorials in Yoga Journal Magazine

Abstract

Scholars have critiqued popular media representations of yoga as largely emphasizing thin, white, upper-class female practitioners donning expensive apparel and accessories, exemplifying many aspects of a commercialized and objectified fitness culture and lifestyle brand. However, there is a dearth of research that has investigated the promotional content in popular magazines such as Yoga Journal; for example, no study to date has examined advertorials in yoga lifestyle magazines. Using framing theory, this study reports on a content analysis of advertorials across 10 years (2008–2017) of Yoga Journal magazine and found that products such as health supplements, herbal remedies and lifestyle brands like clothes and shoes were most often featured across the decade. The most common format was a regular feature, entitled “Off the Mat,” which promotes yoga lifestyle products identified by the magazine as “our partners.” This study also found that yoga-related products and female practitioners were the most common image categories displayed in advertorials. As the use and reach of advertorials increase, in the form of native ads in digital media, this study discusses the implications for the continued commodification of yoga and the role of advertorials in print magazines.