The Advocate’s new “Person of the Year” cover is controversial for a couple of reasons.
First, the LGBT news magazine chose to spotlight Russian President Vladimir Putin, who publicly remarked that gays would be safe at the Olympics so long as they “leave kids alone.”
It also features carefully selected typography over Putin’s upper lip, giving him a mustache similar to another famous world leader:
Credit: The Advocate
Remind you of anyone? The similarity isn’t an accident, said Aaron Hicklin, The Advocate’s editorial director. By comparing Putin to Adolf Hitler, the magazine is drawing a parallel between the climate of appeasement surrounding Hitler’s rise and a similar spiral of silence that Putin’s anti-gay rhetoric has been met with, he said.
“It’s not so much about saying, ‘this is the new Hitler,'” Hicklin said. “It’s about saying, ‘this is a man who, if you appease him, will get away with more.’”
Advocate art director David Gray came up with the idea to run the “Person of the Year” text below Putin’s nose, a choice that was the subject of much debate among editors, Hicklin said. They finalized the design hoping the controversial juxtaposition would fuel a debate around the issue of LGBT rights overseas.
“If you don’t get attention, there’s no point in having the conversation,” Hicklin said.
It certainly did.
Some amazingly conspicuous text on the cover of @TheAdvocateMag's person of the year issue – http://t.co/yJoM3uzRKZ.
— Douglas Brundage (@DABrundage) November 7, 2014
Provocative choice. provocative cover. Vladimir Putin is @TheAdvocateMag’s “Man of the Year” http://t.co/3qfPfA6IuE pic.twitter.com/e5wdCB8Mxt
— Andrés Duque (@Blabbeando) November 7, 2014
The Advocate names Putin its Person of the Year. And this cover… http://t.co/fjKuhSdCYP pic.twitter.com/KgEingkycp
— Amanda Wills (@AmandaWills) November 7, 2014
Graphic design triumph! RT @sllambe: .@TheAdvocateMag's Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin http://t.co/cMf9jGyU3e pic.twitter.com/XAS9pZQZi8
— Amadi (@amaditalks) November 7, 2014
The magazine considered other prominent LGBT figures for the cover, including Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Sam. But editors settled on Putin because “every now and then, it makes sense to shine the light on somebody who’s misusing or abusing their power,” Hicklin said.
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