When Rolling Stone decided to make the controversial decision to put alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsaranaev the decision was met with disdain, criticism and calls for a boycott. If there was a boycott it did nothing to hurt the magazine's bottom line; the issue sold more than double their average over the last year, according to the Boston Globe.
Adweek reported that the magazine sold over 13,232 copies at 1,420 retailers, on average the magazine sells 6,541 copies per week, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The numbers reflect what happened the last time Rolling Stone put such a polarizing figure on the cover of the magazine. In 1970 Charles Manson was on the cover and the magazine not only sold record numbers but it ended up winning a National Magazine Award, according to Adweek.
When the cover was released there were more than a few stores that refused to stock the issue including New England based CVS.
"As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones," a statement from CVS said at the time.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino strongly objected to the cover. In a letter to Rolling Stone Menino suggested that if the magazine should put survivors of the bombing on the cover instead.
"It is ill-conceived, at best, and re-affirms a terrible message that destruction gains fame for killers and their causes," Menino said.
In response to the cover Boston Police photographer Sgt. Sean Murphy released striking photos that he took during the manhunt for Tsarnaev.
"Murphy wants the world to know that the Tsarnaev in the photos he took that night - defeated and barely alive, with the red dots of sniper rifles lighting up his forehead - is the real face of terrorism, not the handsome, confident young man shown on the magazine cover," the article in Boston Magazine said.
