Rolling Stone’s most controversial cover of 2013 has turned into an award winner.
Jann Wenner’s pop culture title was ripped by critics this summer for putting Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of its Aug. 1 issue — but Adweek at its annual Hot List party Tuesday night dubbed it “hands down the most memorable cover of the year.”
At the time, critics said putting the bomber on the cover was the equivalent of treating a terrorist as if he were a rock star.
Howls of protest included calls for some Boston-area retailers to boycott selling the title.
Some protesters claimed the photo of the terrorist made him look “dreamy.”
Rolling Stone defended the story on first amendment grounds and said it was one that gave insight into a terrorist’s motives.
Not swayed by that argument, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and other chains bowed to the pressure and refused to carry the issue in stores.
But the controversy — like the one in 1970 when RS put charles Manson on the cover — caused the Wenner-owned magazine to double its normal newsstand sales of 60,000 to more than 120,000, according to the Magazine Information Network.
Far from hurting sales of the 46-year-old title or the longer-term fortunes of the publisher, the move sparked a conversation and, now, an award.
Rolling Stone, “proving again that while sex sells, controversy does too,” concluded Adweek.