Opining that ‘Magazines have basically looked the same for 150 years,’ and adding that he’s been ‘frustrated with the lack of forward movement in the magazine industry,’ Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger has announced that the cover of his September issue will have tiny embedded batteries to allow it to flash.

The gimmick will give the 75-year-old American magazine bragging rights for being the first to try it. Only 100,000 copies, or approximately one seventh, of the issue’s print run will have flashing covers but, as part of the arrangement that made the innovation possible, all copies will carry back-cover ads for Ford’s new mini-van sport utility vehicle the Flex.

The flashing-cover technology and execution was handled by Cambridge, Mass.-based E Ink, which is partly owned by Esquire‘s parent company, Hearst.