Why are magainze publication dates a week/month earlier?

It irks me to no end, as I have a (completely anal-rentative) rule that I won't read a magazine until I've entered the month of the issue date. Here's what The Straight Dope has to say:

"What you see on newsmagazine covers, at least, is not the publication date but what is sometimes called the "off-sales" date--that is, the date on which dealers are supposed to pull the magazine from the stands. It's the equivalent of the "fresh-until" date on milk. The feeling is that if people see a cover date a few days in the future, they figure they're getting the latest poop, even though the magazine may actually have been sitting on the rack for quite a while."

Makes sense. I guess. As a woman of advertising, I'm thinking its a jackpot for advertisers, who can get a jump on getting their new products in front of customers. Brand Name's product is launching in November and they have their splashy ads in front of Suzy and John Consumer in early October.

Very crafty. I'm obviously missing out.

*Source: http://tinyurl.com/l8x6km
*Photo Credit: Vougue Magazine

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