flickr: alana jonez

Ad page counts for the September issues of magazines are in, and they’re looking less promising.

Condé Nast reports that ad pages in W are down 53% from last year, Allure saw a decline of 52%, Self fell 51%, Glamour lost 42%, Vogue’s down 37%, Details gave up 35%, and GQ and Teen Vogue each lost 32%.

Or, in other words, OUCH.

Elle, published by Hachette Filipacchi, lost 21%, Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar is down between 23 and 26 percent.

Condé did its best to spin the results:
“This is not about magazines, this is about the recession,” Lou Cona, senior VP at the Conde Nast Media Group, said. “Given the media recession and the overall economic recession, I think we are incredibly proud.”

“The reason why you’re seeing these negative numbers posted is not because there’s a problem with our magazines or any other magazines,” Mr. Cona added. “It’s because our clients’ businesses are impacted at retail. Circulation is up, readership is up, engagement is up.”

And unicorns and gryphons are totally real.