Rolling Stone Magazine Boston Bomber Cover - P 2013
Rolling Stone- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Tumblr
Rolling Stone’s “Boston Bomber” issue got a rash of bad publicity, and retailers like CVS and Stop & Stop pulled it from shelves after a “Boycott Rolling Stone” campaign gained steam on Facebook. But the controversy doesn’t seem to have hurt newsstand sales.
Retail sales of the issue jumped 102 percent over average per-issue sales for the past year, according to Magazine Information Network. Figures are based on point-of-sale data from 1,420 retailers from July 19 to July 29. Among those retailers, 13,232 copies were sold, more than double the magazine’s average sales for the prior year.
STORY: Rolling Stone Bomber Cover Was Slotted for Kanye West or Bruce Springsteen
Critics accused Rolling Stone of being insensitive and glorifying a notorious criminal when it put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev‘s photo on the cover. The photo was actually a self-portrait by Tsarnaev and had previously appeared on the cover of the May 5 edition of The New York Times, to considerably less criticism.
The boycott alone wouldn’t have had a big impact on the bottom line anyway, given that only 5 percent of Rolling Stone’s total circulation is sold at retail. But the early sales estimates just go to show that once again, controversy can be a major selling point. Take the magazine’s 1970 cover featuring notorious murderer Charles Manson: Not only was it a best-seller, it also garnered accolades in the industry when it won a National Magazine Award.
Related Stories
Related Stories
Related Stories
“]
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day