In Cost-Cutting Move, Runner’s World Eliminates Vowels
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PhotoS by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash and Daniel Janzen on Unsplash
Runner’s World announced today that it’s cutting vowels in an effort to save money, Dumb Runner has learned—a change that will apply to its website as well as the print magazine, effective immediately.
The unusual shift will also apply to the outlet’s name, according to a statement; the title will now be called “Rnnr’s Wrld.”
“As the world’s oldest and largest running publication, this is not a decision that we take lightly,” a Rnnr’s Wrld spokesperson told Dumb Runner. “But as times change, we must change with them, and today’s economic climate demanded that we make some tough choices.”
“Eliminating the use of vowels will save the brand hundreds of thousands of dollars a year,” the spokesperson continued. “That’s money we can pour directly back into the magazine and website, providing the quality content our readers have come to expect, for many years to come.”
The move comes after the iconic decades-old running publication had already reduced both the magazine’s physical size, to about 7x10 inches, and its frequency of publication, to four times per year.
Asked whether readers might find it hard to understand the brand’s articles without the benefit of vowels, the spokesperson replied, “Absolutely not.”
“With very few exceptions, it’s easy to suss out the meaning of a word without vowels—or, as we like to call them, the linguistic equivalent of junk miles,” they said. “Everyone knows that when it comes to the written word, consonants do the heavy lifting.”
Several emails sent to Rnnr’s Wrld’s Rnnr n Chf, Jff Dngt, were not returned.
