Maxim recently folded its UK print version, and it's facing the horrific specter of a world with no cigarette ads. Times are tough. So they're coming out with yet another brand spinoff! It's a full-blown trend now:

  • Hair Dye—In 2002, Maxim decided to sell its own line of hair dye. It had ads on TV and everything. To this day, when you see an overtanned 40-something with a shirt unbuttoned to his navel, lounging by a mid-rent Cancun pool with a striking head of black hair—that man is a Maxim hair dye legacy.
  • Casino—In 2006, Maxim's publisher signed a deal to build a $1.2 billion Maxim Casino on the Vegas strip, with 60,000 square feet of gambling and 2,300 rooms. How'd that go? Today, the #2 Google result for "Maxim Casino" is a post on this blog.
  • TV Specials—Just announced today! "E! has partnered with Maxim magazine in a two-year deal to produce a series of hourlong specials," including "Maxim's Celebrity Beach Watch" and "Maxim's Hottest Moments 2009." We have a feeling this will be the big one.

Maxim is also rumored to produce a magazine.