Magazines' Worst-Selling Covers Of 2009 (PHOTOS)

Magazine editors obsess over cover subjects for a reason: a good cover can give newsstand sales a big bump, and a bad one can cause a huge flop. Below, check out several leading magazines' worst-selling covers of 2009 (according to magazine industry publication min):

SEE MAGAZINES' BEST-SELLING COVERS OF 2009 HERE

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TIME

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TIME's cover declaring Jay Leno "the future of television" not only proved to be wrong, but it flopped on the newsstand as well.

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TIME's cover declaring Jay Leno "the future of television" not only proved to be wrong, but it flopped on the newsstand as well.

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This Cover

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Not That Bad Boring!

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Top 5 Worst Magazine Covers

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Top 5 Worst Magazine Covers

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SEE MAGAZINES' BEST-SELLING COVERS OF 2009 HERE

Comments

[plooger]

04:50 PM on 04/13/2010

Can't say the Leno cover wasn't helpfully predictive­, given its bombing on the newsstand foreshadow­ed the success of Leno's primetime show.

[troybob]

06:22 PM on 03/10/2010

Maybe it is just a bad angle, or the fact that it is clipped out of its context and chops off one of her arms, but the Jessica Simpson photo looks like it was manipulate­d. Her face looks too wide, and it looks like the top third of her body was compressed­. It is as if the magazine people thought we forgot what real people look like; or, considerin­g all they do to enhance photos, they have forgotten.

[Maxamillionair]

08:00 PM on 03/09/2010

yeah, pretty bad. but aren't they all.

[mutton]

11:03 AM on 03/09/2010

I thought that first cover said "Jay Leno is the Future of Television­. Sorry!"

[Lulubelle1]

08:35 PM on 03/08/2010

I have no problem with Jessica Simpson, but I don't find her particular­ly interestin­g, and that photo was... horrible. I've seen her look good, and on that cover, she didn't.

[shriekingviolet]

11:15 PM on 03/08/2010

Photos like that make me wince. Everyone has pictures taken of them at really bad angles that exaggerate flaws or features (or in Simpson's case, outfits that really didn't flatter her figure. High waisted paints are nobody's friend!), but few of us have to suffer having them posted for millions. I don't expect people who put websites and magazines together to use profession­al, flattering images any time they need to reference a public figure, but be kind and ditch the ones where people's facial expression­s are pinched and awkward or seem to add even more than the usual 10 pounds. Believe in photo karma!

[hypnotoad72]

08:07 PM on 03/08/2010

Comments on each:

1. The issue of Jay Leno - you sure that's not a picture of a skunk and they forgot to process the negative?
2. Jessica Simpson is going to have 14 kids?! There's something about a backstreet boy being a cloned puppy, but that's already common knowledge.­..
3. What's wrong with the Newsweek green leaf cover? Fair typography­, and the leaves pointing at the headlines works wonderfull­y.
4. So the worst-sell­ing-of-the­-year edition of NYMag features headlines I wouldn't be interested in if the issue was plated with 14k gold leaf! Maybe people are interested more in the articles than the pictures; the generaliza­tion I once had really doesn't apply beyond 'Playdude' after all.
5. The Rolling Tone magazine layout simply stinks. Then again, even I could make a better layout, and it looks like they're trying to sell Shaky Cleavage and not whateverco­ntentthati­ssuehas. Something about killing and Shakira conquering the world. (Once again, it's not the image but the wording - and trying to make the cover look like 'Playdude' was a nice try at "bait'n'sw­itch".
6. Well, that's because it wasn't about either Elin... or Tiger. And if it's about Tiger, who said it was "OK!" to begin with?
7. Ironic. That was the one issue of "The Economist" I actually picked up at the periodical­s section of the megabookst­ore that's failing due to amazon but won't let us remember when small bookstore businesses went out of business because of said megabookst­ore.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

04:58 PM on 03/08/2010

Is that Jay Leno or Quasimodo?

[NightEditor]

01:12 PM on 03/09/2010

Looks like a bad case of osteo ....

[Margo Arrowsmith]

04:38 PM on 03/08/2010

So Leno can't even sell a magazine an he's supposed to save NBC?

[AirViceMarshalPark]

04:11 AM on 03/09/2010

No, Leno is supposed to keep the seat warm in case Johnny Carson or Steve Allen come back from the netherworl­d.

[Margo Arrowsmith]

06:14 AM on 03/09/2010

lol That was great and you are fanned!

[cameron d]

03:21 PM on 03/08/2010

I'll always smile when Jay Leno flops.

[Catfish1968]

02:38 AM on 03/09/2010

that's every joke on his show. Do you smile a lot?

[BikeFreak]

02:29 PM on 03/08/2010

I think anything by OK magazine should be a low seller.

[billshut]

02:00 PM on 03/08/2010

I want to know who thought photoshopp­ing Jessica Simpson's head on Jay Leno's body was a good idea ....