Smile, You’re on This Week’s Cover of Time

Time magazine will make each of its 4 million subscribers a cover subject this week.

Through the magic of computers, the magazine has incorporated each reader’s name into its cover design to illustrate a story on junk mail.

“Hey, Jane Smith. Don’t miss our really interesting story on the junk mail explosion!” reads a sample cover from the Nov. 26 issue, released Sunday.

Newsstand copies will carry the cover line: “Hey, you at the newsstand . . . .”

The cover story says that 63.7 billion pieces of third-class mail were delivered nationwide in the past year.

But the tactic works. The article says that last year, 92 million Americans responded to direct-market pitches, a 60% jump in six years. About 43 pounds of junk mail is generated for each adult American. Forty-four percent is thrown away, unopened.