If creating nontraditional, out-of-the-box advertising opportunities is the window to the future for magazines, then Esquire magazine has already arrived there. For its February issue that was just sent out to subscribers and to newsstands, Esquire has invited its readers via an open invitation (literally) in the form of a window, located in the middle of the cover, to “Open here.”

When readers peek through that flap for the first time, they’ll find some unexpected, hidden gems: quotes from articles inside the issue and an advertisement. But it’s not just any ad. This one’s for a new series on the Discovery Channel, appropriately titled “One Way Out,” which happens to be a show about an escape artist and his adventures. In the ad, it shows the artist trapped inside the small space of the ad, with the window as his only possible way out.

According to the New York Times, Esquire charged the Discovery Channel about $250,000, which also included ad production costs, as well as a regular ad page inside the issue. The New York Times is also reporting that Esquire is considering another unconventional cover, this time creating a pull tab on the front for its June issue. And the advertiser we just may see after we peek inside? BMW of North America.

The funny thing is that February’s cover was not the brainchild of a famous New York ad agency. In fact, the concept and the idea came from Esquire’s editor-in-chief, David Granger. So much for the critics thinking that print is passé. Not so, according to Granger.  In a New York Times interview, Granger expressed his opinion; how he thinks print is still a viable and emerging channel, very much alive. “Everybody keeps talking about how print is an old medium,” Granger said, pausing before continuing: “It is an old medium, but it doesn't mean it's a wrung-out medium or a tired medium.”

It’s clear that Granger stands behind his words.

In October 2008, while celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of Esquire, Granger released a special edition of the magazine, with a cover containing electronic ink. The theme was titled "The 21st Century Begins Now," part of a 10-square-inch display containing a collage of illuminated images. The inside cover, a two-page spread, featured an ad for the new Ford Flex Crossover, which was part of a second 10-square-inch display, complete with shifting colors to illustrate the car in motion at night. The displays were developed by E Ink Corp., the same company that supplied the electronic paper technology for the screen of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.

Maybe Granger has it right when he insists that print is not “wrung-out” or “tired.” With the types of ads like the ones that Esquire has been experimenting with, perhaps it’s just the opposite of what the critics have been saying; that print is a thing of the past. Maybe print is now reenergizing itself, to be a necessary and important part of the future.