Office Pirates: These days their Jolly Roger isn't so Jolly

OfficePirates.com, the much-hyped Time, Inc. humor website that debuted in in late February is struggling to find an audience;  Apparently some insiders believe that its days may be numbered, possibly not living out the year.

This would come as no surprise to us.  When we first visited the site -- which is a collection of videos, photos and jokes poking fun at office life -- we found it to be pretty lame and mostly humorless.  We wanted to like the site and figured that given time, maybe it would improve.  But at least for us, we didn't see anything that made us like it better....

For Time Inc.'s online men's magazine Office Pirates, the virus has thus far been contained, and that's not good news.

OfficePirates.com--the publishing giant's much-hyped answer to the viral video-blogging phenomenon, is struggling to build an audience, and some Time Inc. insiders are speculating that its lifespan may be short....

A Time Inc. insider acknowledged that the publisher had in fact done little to promote the site, and others say the buzz-light property is hardly being talked up in the company’s hallways.

Even so, sources familiar with Office Pirates operations say management doesn’t appear to be panicking, and added that the site is on its way to exceeding that Nielsen//NetRatings threshold shortly. Time Inc. execs, including the site’s founder, former Maxim editor in chief Mark Golin, declined to comment on the property’s vitality.

OfficePirates.com, aimed at young men tied to cubicles during the workweek, features a mix of goofy videos, snarky commentary, babes and lowbrow humor. Many industry observers saw the launch as an important test case for the venerable Time Inc.—not only for its potential as an ad vehicle but also to gauge how well a traditional print company could launch an online-only entity....

A Time Inc. executive was not optimistic about its future. “It might not make it to the end of the year,” the exec said. “Everyone is disappointed. It’s just not funny. And it’s gotten more and more lowbrow.” Worse than being unfunny is being unoriginal, said Eric Valk Peterson, managing partner at Agency.com.

Office Pirates Hits Rough Seas - Media Week

Boarding has now commenced: Office Pirates is open for business - Wall Street Folly

Comments

[DB]

In general i would agree with this, the humor on the site is pretty lame.

however, they have recently hit a GOLD MINE, aka the series "Women walking around at Lunchtime". Parts 1 through 6 are now online, it's pretty NYC centric, but still good for a post-lunch food-coma pick-me-up.