Maxim has been doing some version of the model search / cover girl / Hometown Hotties / centerfold whatever competition thing for a very long time. The exact current format is newer, but the overall idea certainly isn't. Anyone who has been around photography or modeling for a couple of decades has probably watched these things appear in their feed over and over again, with some model they know asking everyone to "please vote, share the link, vote again tomorrow, help her make the next round", etc.
And look, right out of the gate, I am not calling the entire thing a scam, so relax. I don't have evidence that Maxim secretly invents vote totals, chooses the winner before the contest begins, never awards actual prizes, or anything else that would justify making such a raging accusation. There have been evidently real winners, real prizes, published rules, some sorta outside administration and an actual competition structure, etc. That said, I have heard all kinds of stories over the years from models, photographers and people who spent money supporting contestants, including the usual speculation that a winner was somehow chosen up front and everything was a ruse. But stories and suspicions are not evidence, and I'm not gonna pretend they are and get some lawyer on my ass about it.
However, I think people should understand what these competitions actually are before they get too emotionally or financially invested in them, because they are very obviously not just some “innocent little search for the prettiest undiscovered woman in America” or whatever.
They're marketing machines. Very effective ones, I might add.
Think about how the whole thing works. A model enters and immediately, essentially, becomes a promoter for Maxim. She posts her competition page. Her friends share it. Her photographers share it. Her family shares it. Everybody starts checking the rankings. People who haven't thought about Maxim in years suddenly have a Maxim link sitting in front of them every day. Multiply that by thousands of entrants and you have an absurd amount of traffic, brand exposure and social media promotion being generated by the contestants themselves, essentially for free, and all for Maxim.
There is also money involved, of course, and this is where I think things get a little more – uncomfortable – for me.. The current system has ways for supporters to purchase “qualifying Maxim media” which then generates additional votes for the contestant they’re trying to support. Maxim's legal language is careful about distinguishing that from simply selling votes outright, and that, of course, matters legally. But from the random person's perspective, the mechanics are still pretty obvious no? Spend money on a qualifying product and your contestant gets more voting power.
Again, that does not make it point blank fraud. It does, however, change the nature of the thing considerably, at least in my view.
Now you have people not only asking friends to click a button, but potentially asking them to spend money because they're sitting at “Rank: 9” and need to make the “Top 5”. And then another round starts. Then another countdown appears. Then somebody falls 3 positions and everybody starts sharing the link again. Whether anybody involved means anything malicious by it or not, that combination of rankings, deadlines, elimination rounds and “purchasable voting influence” is exceptionally good at keeping people emotionally engaged.
And here's another part that I think gets misunderstood: Advancing through the voting doesn't necessarily mean that the person who ultimately accumulated the most public support automatically becomes Maxim's chosen model. The later stages can, and do, involve actual moderated judging based on modeling “ability, charisma, professionalism, versatility, appearance, branding potential” and whatever the hell other subjective criteria.
I mean, think about it: If you owned Maxim, would you want to be forced to put somebody on a cover solely because she had the largest extended family or somebody with a wealthy fan base dropped a fortune into the competition? Guessing not. Maxim is ultimately going to want somebody who "works" for Maxim. That's completely expected when you stop to think about it.
But it also means the public psychology of "I'm currently number 3!” can be a little misleading if everyone starts treating that ranking as though it represents some sort of democratic election for the final winner. The voting helps determine who survives long enough to get there. It does not necessarily dictate Maxim's final editorial decision, because of course it doesn’t.
Something else that caught my attention was Maxim's current legal dispute with Playboy. This year, as in yes 2026, Maxim sued Playboy over allegations involving “competition systems that Maxim believes copied elements of its own platform”. What makes that relevant here is not the lawsuit bullshit drama itself, but how Maxim describes these competitions in its own legal filings. They talk about “consumer engagement, voter participation, monetization, revenue and brand recognition”. In other words, Maxim itself does not describe their contest(s) as merely a talent search. It is also a business platform designed to generate engagement and income, again, because of course it is.
And to be clear, there is nothing immediately sinister or fraudulent about a company running a promotion that generates money and publicity. That's what companies do. But I think that context matters when a contestant is sitting at home feeling like she is “one more $50 push” away from her life changing.
The biggest thing I would caution anyone about is losing perspective. If you want to enter one of these because it sounds fun, you like the exposure, you want to see how far you get, or you simply think, "Fuck it, why not?" then sure. Have fun. Promote yourself. Ask for votes. Maybe something genuinely useful comes from it for you.
But I would be very hesitant to dump significant money into it, or to pressure friends, family and followers into doing the same, based on the assumption that the scoreboard represents some perfectly objective path to “becoming Maxim's next star.”
Because regardless of whether there has ever been anything improper happening behind the scenes, the thing we can actually see is already enough to understand the arrangement: One person wins. A few people get meaningful exposure. Thousands of contestants promote Maxim for weeks.
And Maxim financially benefits from all of it.
So, just maybe keep all of that in mind.
*shrug*