Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事!
FHM
2000.06
《為他雜誌》
2000.06
Item number: C141
Year: AD 2000
Material: Paper
Size: 22.2 x 29.8 cm
Provenance: Private Collector, Australia, 2024
This is the June AD 2000 issue of FHM (For Him Magazine), an adult-oriented men’s magazine published in the United Kingdom by Bauer Media Group. The magazine was in circulation from AD 1985 to AD 2015.
The magazine often featured scantily clad young women on its covers. The cover model for this issue is Australian model Holly Valance, posing in a bikini. The tagline, “FREE SEX BOOK YOUR 69-PAGE BEDROOM COMPENDIUM,” clearly reflects the magazine’s target audience and stylistic orientation.
The magazine also features an advertisement for the pioneering virtual currency “beenz.” The ad depicts a red bean set against a light green background, with the trademark “beenz™” prominently displayed on its surface. At the centre is the tagline highlighting the unique features of the virtual currency: “Click. Earn. Spend.”
A text block at the bottom explains how users can earn beenz online and spend them on items such as CDs, books, wine, and travel. It also provides a link for more information: www.beenz.com.
Beenz, often regarded as the first widely recognised form of virtual currency, was introduced by British entrepreneur Charles Cohen in March AD 2000, during the height of the dot-com bubble. Leveraging the domain beenz.com, Cohen launched this innovative currency in the United States. Together with his associates, he secured $86 million in funding from prominent venture capital firms, including SoftBank, Apax Partners, Vivendi, and Oracle. This substantial investment enabled the rapid establishment of 13 offices worldwide within a short period.
The operational model of beenz involved partnering with websites to distribute a designated amount of virtual currency. Visitors to these participating websites could collect beenz at no cost and subsequently use them for purchases on the same platforms. However, just eight months after its launch, the rapid expansion of beenz began to face significant challenges. The service struggled to maintain its momentum due to its accelerated growth and the emergence of competitors like Amazon and Visa, which introduced more straightforward and widely accepted online payment systems using credit cards.
Ultimately, on August 26, AD 2001, beenz and its parent company declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. The collapse of beenz serves as a quintessential example of the unsustainable growth and volatility that characterised the dot-com bubble era.
The dot-com bubble, which occurred during the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium, was characterised by a surge in investment surrounding emerging internet technologies and concepts as the internet became increasingly mainstream. This period saw numerous speculative investments, many of which ultimately ended in failure. However, some of the companies that emerged during this time—such as Google, PayPal, and Amazon—have since become household names and global industry leaders, illustrating the lasting impact of the era despite the financial turmoil it caused.