An outsert is a supplemental leaflet or card wrapped around and attached to the outside of a magazine or other publication -- unlike an insert, which appears inside the magazine itself -- in order to advertise a product.
Advertisers are frequently drawn to outserts because of the perceived "halo effect" of their ad being bundled with the magazine, while magazines use them as an additional revenue source.
History
The outsert was first used on Running Magazine in the UK in 1981.. They were later popularized by fashion magazines in the early 1990s:
Vanity Fair included an outsert for
Calvin Klein, and
Details included one for Request jeans. The October 1992 issue of
Vogue was packaged with an outsert advertisement for
Revlon. This outsert was deliberately designed to mimic the
Vogue graphic design, with photoshoots by
Vogue photographers,
which sparked controversy amid those who saw it as blurring advertising and editorial.
Other uses
An additional use of the term
outsert is a multi-folded, instruction sheet applied to the outside of a bottle or carton of a
pharmaceutical product.
The instruction sheets are rather large and the font of the text is small so as to provide all mandated information about the proper use of and
Warning label about the product. The equipment that applies the
outsert is called an outserter or outserting machine.
Scientific use of the term
High-strength magnets such as those at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory are configured with an inner magnet called the insert and an outer magnet called the
outsert.
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