Their used to be very strict guidelines in magazines about keeping the editorial department as far away from the ad people as humanely possible. Of course, since ad revenue went down the shitter, that's no longer a viable option, leading to some…let's say, more "creative" uses of advertising as content. First there was Esquire's cover (no not the blinky one) that involved ads that you had to uncover to see, and now ESPN Magazine is getting in on the game.

ESPN's April issue comes with half the cover obscured by a white piece of paper that reads "You wouldn't settle for an incomplete cover." Opening the flap is an advertisement for a sports drink, "So why settle for an incomplete sports drink?" Technically this isn't blasphemy for ASME: Their rule is that the cover has to be used only for editorial space. But since you need to open up part of the magazine to read the copy…well, Jeff Bercovici is still waiting to hear back from ASME CEO Sid Holt for his interpretation of the copacetic-ness of the mag.