Now you see it, now you … still see it.
That was the reaction of many observers who glimpsed the cover of the most recent issue of Time magazine. The illustration accompanying the cover story, titled “The Clinton Way,” features a silhouette of former Secretary of State and would-be Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton set against a cerulean-blue background:
But what caught the attention of many in the media was the placement of Clinton’s image with respect to the peaks in the capital “M” in Time’s logo:
She has horns! “@ZekeJMiller: This week’s @TIME cover by @DavidVonDrehle: The Clinton Way http://t.co/iXvGpHfzOH pic.twitter.com/wEFKfIU8Cj”
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) March 12, 2015
Oops. @TIME mag put devil horns on #HillaryClinton. Even the top dogs make weird layout “mistakes”. http://t.co/2DfzVLlJs6
— Ilia A Jones (@IliaAJones) March 12, 2015
Here is Time’s nonchalant response, which notes that Mrs. Clinton is not the first individual to be … er — “demonized” by its cover design:
There was some hubbub online Thursday over TIME’s latest cover, which appeared to show Hillary Clinton sporting a set of horns. (This sort of thing has happened before.) Given the shape of the letter “m” in the magazine’s name and its location on the cover, many other subjects in the past have also appeared to sprout extra features (in fact this happened to Hillary Clinton at least once before. Same goes for Bill Clinton. George W. Bush too). Check out everyone from Margaret Thatcher to Pope Francis to Jesus to Darth Vader who have received the rough end of TIME’s “horns.” Any resemblance to cats, bats or devil horns is entirely coincidental.
The editors at TIME were gracious enough to share several of the images it was considering but ultimately rejected:
