When your humble blogger pulled this week’s Bloomberg Businesweek from the courier’s sheath (an unheralded development in print distribution), my first thought was “This is what happens when the boss goes on vacation.”

This cover turns the famous Rolling Stone campaign on its head, comparing the flaccid reality of hedge fund performance with its robust reputation

But still, as I chuckled, your humble blogger quickly opened the magazine to the “Cover Trail” which purports to cover the cover development every week.  The “Cover Trail” is a humanizing element, showing what the boys and girls at Businessweek are thinking.  One might assume they are all boys as one can almost hear the puerile laughter at Bloomberg HQ -  there is no masthead to be found but the credits posted on CoverJunkie .com include women.

Your humble blogger thinks this one will go viral for the usual reasons although only briefly.

The bigger story of Businessweek is about effective design (especially heavy use of charts) and good writing. Your humble blogger recalled recently, as I experienced the anticipation of opening this magazine, that I had felt the same sensation years ago, at the sight of Bernie Goldhirsh’s Inc. Magazine poking out of my mail box before I had the privilege of working for Bernie.  Ironically, Bernie's passion for competing with Business Week probably lead to one of his more costly mistakes, Business Month Magazine.

This is a fun business.  Every once in a while it is good to let it all hang out.

Labels: Bernie Goldhirsh, Businessweek cover, going viral, hedge fund myth, lets have fun, perception vs. reality, slow newsday, what happens when the boss goes on vacation