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Vibrant Life Special Issue Ties in With Film Documentary

 

When the film Forks Over Knives premiered in the Northwest this past winter, the producers had a surprise. Their low-budget documentary about nutrition was a hit. Portland’s tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing crowd thronged the Regal Theater, completely selling out 10 showings in the first week. The run was extended for a total of five weeks.

Meanwhile, people in Hagerstown had their eye on Forks Over Knives. “When we heard about the message of the documentary—that choosing healthy foods with your fork can actually prevent disease and decrease your chances of having to go under the knife for surgery—we were thrilled,” says Vibrant Life editor Heather Quintana. “The power of a plant-based diet has been a part of our message for more than 125 years.”

Marketing had been trying to increase the circulation of Vibrant Life, and now they saw an opportunity.  “It’s a great magazine,” says Marketing vice president Dwight Hall. “People just need to know about it.”  Hall’s idea was to use the buzz around the movie as a springboard to promote the magazine. “Movies have more advertising dollars than we do,”  he says.

Dwight had seen this method work before when he used the publicity around Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ to sell 1.6 million copies of the last section of The Desire of Ages.
Quintana began putting together an expanded issue of her magazine that tied in with the documentary, including an interview with the nutritionists featured on-screen.

“We were on an unbelievably tight deadline to get this special issue out in time for the film’s national release,” says Quintana. “Then we got an answer to a prayer we hadn’t even thought to pray. Amazingly, the film was getting such a positive response that the release date was postponed to accommodate the expansion into more theaters. Those few extra weeks helped us create an even better magazine.” (The film is now scheduled to open in most cities in the beginning of May.)

The press run for this issue reached a number that the magazine hasn’t seen since the 1960s—275,000. Almost half the copies are already sold. Paper is on hand to print another quarter million.

Promotional material is going to the churches encouraging people to share the magazine with friends and neighbors.

The Forks Over Knives special issue goes beyond the nutrition emphasis of the film. One article is titled “21 Ways to Nurture Your Spiritual Life.” T. Colin Campbell, who is featured in the film, talks about how people sometimes get caught up in one health trend, such as an individual vitamin or supplement. He says it’s like cutting a square out of a quilt and trying to stay warm under that one little piece. “We want people to strive to achieve health in all areas of life,” says Quintana.