Rolling Stone Refuses Bible Ad

Via BoingBoing, Rolling Stone magazine has refused an ad for a new translation of the Bible aimed at young people.

Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, bought space in the magazine months ago as part of an ad campaign for Today’s New International Version, said Doug Lockhart, Zondervan’s executive vice president of marketing. “Last week, we were surprised and certainly disappointed that Rolling Stone had changed their mind and rejected our ad,” he said.

This is a classic story manufactured by Zondervan. It’s a decent PR strategy, for what’s essentially non-news: “Magazine Turns Down Ad: Details at Eleven”. Zondervan generates a little controversy and punishes Rolling Stone for exercising its editorial rights. Clearly, they’re a bit paranoid or atheist over at Wenner Media, as the The Onion and MTV.com accepted the ad.