Looking for an explanation…
April 14, 2007
I know I am not the one that is supposed to ask the questions, rather answer and comment on things, but this split cover phenomena is really getting out of control… It is becoming rare to find a magazine with one cover, whether two different covers one on the stands and another in your mail box, or split covers with both covers on the newsstands… I tried to give some answers in the past (read all about it here), now I would like to invite readers, editors, and designers to post their reactions in the comment link below. To understand what I am talking about, look above at the two covers of the May issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, the newsstand issue and the subscription issue, and the two split covers below of the special issue of Wizard magazine Mega Movie issue.
Mr. Magazine 
I’m a long-time circulator, so this is no great surprise to me. My guess is there are 2 tests going on.
1) LHJ – always had extremely cluttered covers in an effort to make an impact at the checkout. I’m guessing they had some response in a cover survey that the subscribers didn’t need to be “sold” like a newsstand buyer, and preferred a better look at the image. They wil then monitor the insert response, and and continue to survey the subscribers to see if they liked the changes.
2) Wizard – This is simple… 2 BIG comic book movies coming out within weeks of each other. Do you see greater lift from the star (Spidey) or the cheesecake photo (Alba). Or, in a perfect world, do you generate huge overall lift, because these readers are print collectors, and will gladly pay double for a variant cover!