Cracked (magazine)

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Cracked

Cover for the November/December 2006 issue
Editor	Sol Brodsky (founding editor)
Categories	Satirical magazine
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Major Magazines Globe Publishing Mega Media
First issue	March 1958
Final issue	February 2007
Country	United States
Language	English

Cracked was an American humor magazine. Founded in 1958, Cracked proved to be the most durable of the many publications to be launched in the wake of Mad magazine.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

In print, Cracked conspicuously copied Mad's layouts and style,^{[7][8][9][10]} and even featured a simpleminded, wide-cheeked mascot, a janitor named Sylvester P. Smythe on its covers, in a manner similar to Mad's Alfred E. Neuman.^[11] Unlike Neuman, who appears primarily on covers, Smythe sometimes spoke and was frequently seen inside the magazine, interacting with parody subjects and other regular characters. A 1998 reader contest led to Smythe finally getting a full middle name: "Phooey." An article on Cracked.com, the website which adopted Cracked's name after the magazine ceased publication, joked that the magazine was "created as a knock-off of Mad magazine just over 50 years ago", and it "spent nearly half a century with a fan base primarily comprised of people who got to the store after Mad sold out."^[12]

Cracked's publication frequency was reduced in the 1990s, and was erratic in the 2000s.^[13] In 2006, the magazine was revived with a new editorial formula that represented a significant departure from its prior Mad style. The new format was more akin to "lad" magazines like Maxim and FHM.^[14] The new formula, however, was unsuccessful and Cracked again canceled its print magazine in February 2007 after three issues. Later that year, the brand was carried over to a website, Cracked.com, now owned by Literally Media.