Bloomberg Businessweek produced a cover featuring a photo illustration of bloodied, battered Mitt Romney for a story in its Jan. 13 issue, but chose not to run it.

"Each week we design a few cover possibilities for the upcoming issue," Bloomberg Businessweek editor Josh Tyrangiel said in a statement after the cover--first spotted by Capital New York's Azi Paybarah--began to make the rounds on Tumblr and Twitter. "We see where the news is going and make a final decision about the image on Wednesday afternoon."

The decision for the magazine was between a bloody Romney and a non-bloody Steve Ballmer, the Microsoft chief executive who was also profiled in the same issue.

"In the end, we went with Ballmer since the Romney story seemed to have already hit its peak," Tyrangiel added. "A lot of times these decisions are about all of us putting our finger in the air and trying to figure out which way the zeitgeist is blowing."

The zeitgeist was apparently blowing in the right direction for New York magazine, which published a cover this week featuring bruised and beaten versions of Romney, Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama. The coverline: "Bloodiest Campaign Ever."

[H/T: Azi Paybarah via Buzzfeed]

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