Grayboy -- Parody Issue of The Pointer 1979

A special issue of The Pointer, the magazine published by cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1979, the Academy attempted to co-opt what had been traditionally an entertainment and satire magazine created by cadets for the cadets' own enjoyment, and use it as a platform for official information. The result, after two or three issues, was a steep decline in readership, many cancelled subscriptions and angry letters from cadets and graduates all over the world, which showed that such a magazine would not reach the audience for which it was intended.

   In a bid to restore faith in The Pointer, the staff proposed a more even balance between satire and serious features. However, there was much ground to be regained, so to signal the return of humor to the publication, they brainstormed to come up with something big, eye-catching, and above all, fun.

   At the time, Playboy was riding high among the readers of the same demographic, and was already controversial in the public mind. So a parody of that magazine was a natural. With the relatively new presence of female cadets in the Corps, this issue was sure to ignite some controversy of its own, but to ensure that the women were not totally relegated to the role of cheesecake, the pictorial section featured male cadets in fictionalized profiles that were designed to turn the idea of eye-candy on its head.

   The ploy worked like a charm. Soon, subscriptions were up, the world was fun again, birds were singing and Plebes took big bites. There was even a request from Playboy to send them an issue, which was featured in that magazine's "The World of Playboy" section.

   The magazine has now been scanned and turned into a PDF for anyone to download. Enjoy!

NOTE: The interface may be a little clumsy. You have to click on the "Download Files" link and any further links that look like that, including the final one that includes the name of the product as a link. That should finally initiate the download.