Why Two Airplanes Are Fucking on the Cover of BusinessWeek
Maybe you haven't seen Bloomberg BusinessWeek's very edgy and risque new cover? With two airplanes having sex to symbolize airline mergers (-"cockpit" joke here-) ? Well if you haven't it's after the jump, along with an in-depth look at the creative process behind this artwork.
The Atlantic Wire asked Richard Turley, BusinessWeek's well regarded new-ish creative director, how this one came together. "Tell us more about that process," Atlantic Wire asked. Turley broke it down:
It's just me and Josh Tyrangiel, the editor... we sit literally opposite each other.... It was Josh who said, "How about planes having sex for the cover?" And I was like "YES."
Boom! Next thing you know you've got a cover that does not "air" on the side of caution. Fishbowl NY calls it "Another Brilliant Businessweek Cover."
I actually consider it more crude the clever, and veering toward the awkward-businessman-trying-to-be-cool vibe given off by a recent awful "Etc." section package, in which BBW made jokes about blackmail and advised businesswomen that hitting a Las Vegas strip club (illustrated with not just one but two titty-bar drawings) would turn them into "a team player... [and] will endear you to your male colleagues." Or the recent Steve Balmer cover in which the CEO of Microsoft was reduced to being referred to as "monkey boy," a title given to him 12 years ago in one of the first viral internet videos, because he was sweaty and shouty once when trying to pump up people attending a developer conference (the video, by the way, was barely glanced in BusinessWeek's story).
You can be very clever, BusinessWeek. But stop being so juvenile! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to writing posts about cannibals marrying vampires and people throwing glitter on each other.
