History Main / ContemptibleCover

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1642177943070267600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]


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[[quoteright:200:[[LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spicewolfcover_2516.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:200:A thrillingly erotic tale of... late-medieval/early modern commerce?[[note]] For reference [[https://kelakagandy.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/spicewolf_1alt.gif Original Cover]][[/note]]]]

->''"I wonder if there's a secondary market for fake dust-jackets for the easily-embarrassed reader, bearing the correct name and title but a different illustration? Signed by the author, even...!"''
-->-- '''Creator/CharlesStross''' [[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/10/still-under-siege.html reacts]] to the cover of ''Literature/NeptunesBrood''

We're all told never to judge a book by its cover. Many still do; a book's cover is one of the most important marketing opportunities it has, and has a large influence on how we initially read and interpret a story.

Unfortunately, some books are cursed with the [[TitleDrop Contemptible Cover]]. This kind of cover contains an excess of sexual, violent or otherwise lurid imagery, often at odds with the book's actual content. Though SexyPackaging isn't always bad, Contemptible Covers' trashy illustrations appear a simple and blatant effort to appeal to the LowestCommonDenominator. You may well be ashamed to be seen reading such a book at home, let alone on a bus -- or at the very least, it will make you wince.

The Contemptible Cover cannot claim that most covers are designed before the book is done. Blame falls solely on the [[ExecutiveMeddling marketing department]]; even world-famous best-selling authors don't normally have a say in the matter.

This is not just for books, naturally, but you're not likely to be holding up a DVD or a theatrical poster on a bus.

Not to be confused with a [[Horrible/MusicCovers contemptible]] cover ''[[CoverVersion song]]''. Though this trope doesn't strictly describe [[NakedFreakOut a pretty female character frantically trying to cover herself after her clothes are ripped off]], that might well be used as an example. Also not to be confused with selfishly using other people to hide behind while under fire, even though it's both contemptible and cover. That's HumanShield.

Compare CoversAlwaysLie, IntentionallyAwkwardTitle, NeverTrustATrailer, and LadyNotAppearingInThisGame for similar phenomena in media. Can overlap with AmericanKirbyIsHardcore in the case of localized video game box arts. This is often a failed attempt to PolishTheTurd.

Contrast FanserviceCover, where the cover is made with the deliberate intent to titillate readers instead of it just baiting people to read the book.

----
!!Example subpages:
[[index]]
* ContemptibleCover/{{Literature}}
* ContemptibleCover/{{Music}}
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The cover for the American release of ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf''. It's kind of [[AudienceAlienatingPremise hard to sell a series focused on medieval economics]], even if one of the lead characters is a [[LittleBitBeastly cute wolf girl]]. The publisher attempted to rectify this by first releasing volume 1 with a cover which shows a live-action and possibly naked girl with a wolf tail who looks nothing like the said wolf girl, Holo. It makes it look like some sort of trashy erotica novel or {{ecchi}} MagicalGirlfriend series, when it's really a historical fantasy. Outcry from fans led to it being issued with the original cover as a dust jacket. Eventually, the publisher found a compromise; the live-action covers were instead used as the dust jackets, while keeping the original art as the main book cover.
%% * The ''How to Draw Manga'' books can have rather...[[https://www.google.com/search?q=how%20to%20draw%20manga%20books&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D12&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=5nXBUMDxPKnYigLnxoCIBw&biw=1024&bih=643&sei=IXbBUKioAqmtiQK0goGoAw#um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=how+to+draw+manga+books+covers&oq=how+to+draw+manga+books+covers&gs_l=img.3...23470.31333.0.31802.13.10.3.0.0.0.200.1172.3j6j1.10.0...0.0...1c.1.XBtwgs20Xjk&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=132d0864ef3e11c5&bpcl=39650382&biw=1024&bih=643 fanservice-y covers.]] (WARNING: CAN BE NSFW) Oh, and a large number of them are [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} traced off of other artwork without credit]], [[http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Drawing-Manga-Krefta/dp/1841931713 as can be seen in the reviews of this particular one]] [[http://netdna.tvovermind.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/noir-mireille-wp2.jpg and the original piece]] it was traced from from ''Anime/{{Noir}}''. weblinks are not examples
* Even though the original first couple of covers of the ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' manga by and large avoided {{fanservice}}, later covers always have female characters in strange, revealing clothing, like GoGoEnslavement gear or a {{Stripperiffic}} {{Sexy Santa|Dress}} outfit.
%% * ''Anime/CodeGeass'' often has risque covers for its dvds and other media, such as [[http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a102/danukedev/CODEGEASS-HobbyJapanJuly2007.jpg this]]. weblinks are not examples
* ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' has [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/releases.php?id=9755 this cover]] of Misaki in a TitsAndAssPose while wearing BareYourMidriff clothing.
%% * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' volume covers [[http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:MangaVolume34Cover.png 34]], [[http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:MangaVolume42Cover.png 42]] and [[http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:MangaVolume46Cover.png 46]]. And a male example might be this one, [[http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:MangaVolume23Cover.png volume 23]]. weblinks are not examples
* Most of the covers for ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' are pretty tame, although there ''is'' one cover that features Rue in a bird cage wearing a corset and a tutu that covers basically nothing. It's based on a real ballet (as all of the covers are), and it's highly symbolic, so it's not ''too'' out of place... but then ADV decided to use that picture as the cover for the boxset. Considering Rue isn't even the title character, the fans were confused and embarrassed by the move. Luckily in later editions the eponymous MagicalGirl is shown on the cover in a less provocative pose.
* The original DVD covers for ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' show the girls in [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91QumZ2kk4L._SL1500_.jpg a very unflattering light]]: exposed stomachs, embarrassed expressions, and skirts that are dangerously close to being [[PantyShot blown upwards by the wind]]. Granted, they're frames from the opening animation... very ''strategically'' chosen frames. A bit ironic, considering it's a female-driven series that ''doesn't'' resort to {{fanservice}} to entice viewers. The [[https://cdn.archonia.com/images/1-53544807-1-1-original1/azumanga-daioh-complete-collection-dvd-box-set.jpg Sentai Filmworks]] re-release uses artwork that's more faithful to the series' tone.
* The first volume of ''Manga/PeepoChoo'' has a huge picture of a scantily-clad [[ImpossibleHourglassFigure Reiko]].
%% * Some people consider the first boxed set of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' to be creepy. Also, if you just go by the DVD covers and advertisements on video streaming sites you might mistake ''Gunslinger Girl'' for a {{fanservice}} action show. elaborate
* This is poked fun at three years straight in the New Years anime specials of ''Manga/{{Gintama}}''. The first two times Gintoki holds fake DVD covers featuring him and Hijikata shirtless in suggestive poses, then it's the Benizakura Arc movie tickets... Hijikata is barely in it anyway.
* ''Manga/FrankenFran'', a manga whose [[BodyHorror content]] itself would be rather hard to explain, likes to go the extra misleading mile by having the covers be the [[CuteMonsterGirl main female characters]] in poses out of a medical fetish book. Often there's a [[FanDisservice horrific version of the same picture on the next page]], such as the cover of volume 3, which features a sexy picture of Adorea, complete with cute face -- despite the fact that her actual face is a mass of tentacles designed for swallowing people whole. The aforementioned horrific version reveals that the "cute face" was just a biological mask.
* The novel version of ''LightNovel/LChangeTheWorld'' has [[https://deathnote.fandom.com/wiki/File:L_change_the_world_novel_cover.jpg this]] as the cover. Aside from it being weird, people who don't know anything might even go so far as to think [[InsaneTrollLogic it's a book about a pedophile]] since he is surrounded by toys and candy.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'''s cover for the 13th volume shows a ''[[SlasherSmile smiling]]'' Guts holding a completely naked and unconscious Casca whilst they are surrounded by demons. What makes it a contemptible cover, aside from nobody ever wanting to be seen reading it in public, is that [[spoiler:the event depicted does not happen in the story itself]].
* Of the many gorgeous ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'' covers available, Creator/{{Netflix}} chose [[https://assets.nflxext.com/us/boxshots/hd1080/70213092.jpg this one]] to advertise it. Those not in the know wouldn't be blamed for thinking it's a {{Yaoi|Genre}} series, and while there is HomoeroticSubtext by the boatload and at least one canon same-sex crush, it's nowhere near representative of the content.
* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'':
** The Blu-ray release features a nude Panty straddling a large gun on the cover. Naturally, the set has a strategically-placed sticker over Panty's torso so it can be sold at mainstream retailers like Target or Walmart; and the sticker is notably absent at online retailers or specialty stores like Suncoast Motion Picture Company. Justified given it's an AnimatedShockComedy, but it still qualifies.
** [[UpToEleven Pushing the envelope of this trope to the limit]], then, we have the ''[[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Forever Bitch Edition]]'', which cover shows... [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131102075204/pswgb/images/f/f6/Panty_%26_Stocking_with_Garterbelt_-_Forever_Bitch_Edition_cover.jpg Yeah.]][[note]][[ShmuckBait If you want to know but you're too scared to click]], it's Panty and Stocking nude [[EroticEating giving a blowjob to a breadstick]].[[/note]]
* ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'''s covers tend to feature ReallySevenHundredYearsOld but child-like looking Mina Tepes in various states of undress and "come hither" posing.
* ''Manga/ACentaursLife'' is a SliceOfLife manga that occasionally features nudity, but unlike some of its monster girl-themed competition like ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', it's usually in an everyday context and is less focused on {{Fanservice}}. Nevertheless, while the first few volumes had covers that depicted the everyday scenes the manga focuses on, there have been an increasing number of covers that are obvious attempts at {{Fanservice}} that are at odds with the content or depictions in the actual manga. Perhaps the most notable is Volume 8, which features an OffModel version of the main character in a swimsuit, featuring her larger-than-usual breasts dripping with water prominently on one side of the book, and a close up on her dripping behind on the other. In general, her breast size has also been increasing with each cover, far ahead of her in-story depiction, and included the visible shape of nipples through her clothes.
* The cover of the first manga volume of ''Manga/InuXBokuSS'', a slice of life manga about a group of half-{{Youkai}} living in a boarding house, features Ririchiyo sitting on Soushi's shoulder, with it looking like he's putting a hand up her skirt. Even though the series barely features any nudity or sexual situations at all, and the covers of later volumes reflect that, the first one is enough to make some think the story is {{Ecchi}} and put it back on the shelf.
* ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'' presents an InUniverse, {{inverted}} example. When relatively popular {{hentai}} SequentialArtist Norush is due to publish his second tankoubon, his editor advises him to design ''clean'' covers for it so as to avoid the buyers' embarrassment at the cash register.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' has a troubling Omnibus image, [[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51E0sJy0ivL.jpg giving a panty shot of Cassie Hack with special attention being drawn to the groin area.]] While the comic has lots of fetish-wear, it is surprisingly tasteful in its fanservice.
* Parodied by ''ComicBook/TheMiddleman''. The first issue was available with a normal cover, or (as a Comic-Con exclusive), the "Special Completely Inaccurate Variant Cover Edition", which features a muscular barbarian with a [[LegCling scantily clad woman lying at his feet.]]
* ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'': The ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire'' tie featuring the infamous cover seen [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a3/Heroes_for_Hire_Vol_2_13.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070913193242 here]]. While the interior features not a single tentacle naughty or otherwise. Various readers and critics vocally disapproved, pointing out the dripped slime on ComicBook/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}}'s cleavage, and that one tentacle appeared to be unzipping [[ComicBook/DaughtersOfTheDragon Colleen Wing]]'s catsuit as being particularly over the line. Oh, and then [[ShaggyDogStory the title was cancelled two issues later]].
* Issue #8 of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Gotham After Midnight'' shows a gorgeous, lingerie-clad woman BoundAndGagged on the floor. Nothing remotely close to this happens in the actual comic. Similarly, there's a ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' cover that has him standing over a BoundAndGagged ComicBook/{{Huntress}}. While Huntress does get captured in the issue, it's not by Nightwing and she's certainly not bound and gagged. It comes off like a cheap attempt at enticing male readers with some titillation.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'':
** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTheHiketeia'' is an excellent graphic novel that launched Creator/GregRucka's popular four-year run on the main series. It's an engaging tale about debt, guilt and duty to the gods vs. duty to the government. The cover is a closeup of Wonder Woman stepping on Batman's head. Yeah, you'll definitely get some funny looks reading it in public.
** In-story, Carelton Group Publishing proposes a Fanservice-laden cover for Diana's book, with her lying nude and seductive on a couch. Diana opts for a simple cover with a depiction of her lasso on a white background.
* ''ComicBook/{{Princeless}}: Get Over Yourself'' #2 {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this trope. [[http://whatchareading.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/princeless-2-cover.jpg The cover]] has an image of Adrienne's sister Angelica spread out naked for the reader. The nudity is interrupted by the ''real'' Adrienne [[BreakingTheFourthWall bursting out of the cover and criticizing the artist for drawing a skeevy image that has nothing to do with the actual story]].
* Spoofed in one of the ''Outland'' collections (the successor to ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'') is titled "His Kisses are Dreamy... But Those Hairballs down my Cleavage..." Needless to say, the title speaks for itself, but just to elaborate, it has Bill the Cat puckering his lips and an ample-chested woman with a tear rolling down her cheek.
* In 2014, Marvel hired noted erotic artist Milo Manara to draw special covers for some of their new titles. One of them was the [[http://78.media.tumblr.com/88a638213cb0a362a38c80601b50ac41/tumblr_naj5dj5POr1r34y4ho1_500.jpg this]] cover to the 2014 launch of the ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman'' series (also a part of the ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' storyline). Not only did some fans get up in arms over the suggestive pose, they got up in arms over how uncomfortable and bizarre that pose was.
* The comic adaptation of ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'' has some quite painfully fanservice covers, depicting Lisbeth Salander as some kind of Suicide Girls-style goth/alt pin-up. Particularly inappropriate given the nature of the work as a protest against male exploitation of and sexual violence against women.
* In the early 2000s, Marvel published an [[ComicBook/EmmaFrost Emma Frost miniseries]] covering the character's early life, which was mostly teen drama, had relatively low-key artwork, and might have appealed to young women. Unfortunately, the covers of the comics were incredibly sexed-up pin-up shots of the adult Emma wearing an assortment of costumes that were even more revealing than the costume she normally wore at the time in ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', and if you've read that title you'll know that wasn't easy to achieve. This probably contributed to the series' failure. This is one of the worst examples, but many Marvel comics with solo female protagonists during this era featured heavily sexualised pin-up covers, often by Greg Horn, that give little clue as to the content inside.
* For Creator/DCComics' June 2015 comics, a number of titles bore variant covers featuring ComicBook/TheJoker. Many of them are humorous... but [[https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/03/17/16/Batgirl-pulled-cover.jpg this cover]] for ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2011}} is not one of them. Some fans were disgusted by the cover given the character's history with The Joker and initiated a counterattack. Due to the backlash, the artist requested that DC remove the cover.
* A strange variant concerning ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' - one of the variant covers, namely the [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/archiesonic/images/a/a2/MM_50_V4.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150311221321 cover]] to ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' [[MilestoneCelebration #50]] shows off horrible OffModel versions of OriginalGeneration characters Quake Woman and Xander Payne. At least Quake Woman looks like Quake Woman; it's hard to tell if the freaky eye-patched man really ''is'' Xander Payne.
* A strip found in Tom Gauld's ''You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack'', depicting a business meeting:
--> "Mike, we're so excited to see these new D.H. Lawrence book covers you've designed for us!"
--> "I've chosen images that represent Lawrence's key themes: class, nature and capitalism."
--> ''(beat)''
--> "Just kidding! They're all pictures of sexy ladies!"
--> "Hooray!"
* The Creator/JuanJoseRyp cover to issue 4 of ''ComicBook/FrankMillersRoboCop'' features [[https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/1/11307/363621-20346-128122-2-frank-miller-s-roboc.jpg a bloodied Lewis drawn in such a way that she resembled a pole dancer]]. His covers for some of the other issues also features scantily-clad women.
* ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}...you didn't see that coming, right? But just because Dynamite did a makeover and now dresses her decently, it won't exclude her wearing her classic costume on the cover...
* Averted following much controversy with a variant cover for ''ComicBook/IronMan'', during the period where [[ComicBook/{{Ironheart}} Riri Williams]] was the AffirmativeActionLegacy. Creator/JScottCampbell did a VariantCover pair for a single retailer showing Riri in armour and in civilian clothes... except the civilian one depicted the canonically fifteen-years-old and nerdy Riri with the MostCommonSuperpower, in a seductive pose with a BareYourMidriff outfit that, to make things even more out-of-character, was over a decade out of fashion with an early-2000s style ridiculously low-rise waist. The covers were promptly cancelled. Campbell initially dismissed the controversy, but then made peace by doing a new Variant Cover showing Riri in civilian gear, with a more naturalistic body shape and casual pose, and more modest but far more fashionable clothing.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderManBlackCatTheEvilThatMenDo'': All of the covers place a great deal of emphasis on Black Cat's breasts, ass or [[BoobsAndButtPose both at once]]. This would be bad enough without this story [[spoiler: revealing that Felicia was date raped by her college boyfriend and even has the villain attempt to rape her in issue 3.]]
* Played with by the collected editions of ''ComicBook/SexCriminals'', which feature NSFW covers, but covered in dust jackets for books on topics like [[https://boingboing.net/2016/05/21/sex-criminals-robin-hood-bank.html DIY pet euthanasia]].
* Standard for Dynamite; ''many'' issues of ''ComicBook/WarlordOfMars'' have covers featuring [[MsFanservice Dejah]] when her role is minimal or non-existent. It happens mostly on the original main series however.
* Nearly every cover for the notorious comic ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' features a nearly naked redheaded girl who [[LadyNotAppearingInThisGame never appears in any of the issues]] and rarely has anything to do with the story's context. The series was conceived as part of a bet with another writer to see who could make the better selling comic, and this strategy of blatantly misleading SexyPackaging was obviously used as low-effort reader bait when it was clear ''Marville was losing'', '''badly'''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/LibertyMeadows'' is a hilarious comic, but Frank Cho's love of busty women on the cover makes it almost a certainty that reading it in public will get you some funny looks. Jen's cover on the fourth collection is especially outrageous in this regard. In Cho's defense, the interiors are often just as sexualized as the cover, making it as much a case of Truth In Advertising.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* Some promotional material for ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' showed the main female character in a breast-baring {{Stripperiffic}} outfit, which appears nowhere in the film. The male main character actually ends up showing more skin in the film itself than she does.
* Many animated features sport covers that go way too far in the opposite direction of your usual "let's add sex and violence" Contemptible Cover art. By far the best examples would be ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', and ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' -- all of them sport cover art that crawled right out of the depths of the AnimationAgeGhetto and are [[TastesLikeDiabetes insanely inaccurate]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids given the actual tone of the three films]]. Animated films can also suffer from having OffModel stock art on their DVD covers, for example, the DVD covers of ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' and ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''. And this is all despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original VHS covers.
* The DVD cover of ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' features a reworked version of the original poster with brighter, more saturated colors and less emphasis on the villain, Sharptooth. This gives the impression that it is more like its LighterAndSofter sequels than the dark, often frightening film it is.
* The DVD release of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse'' had an image of a BrainwashedAndCrazy ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} clad in a {{Stripperiffic}} outfit (which she briefly wears) used in place of an actual shot of the heroine in her iconic costume. According to WordOfGod, the cover artist was told to do this after the [[GirlShowGhetto failure]] of the ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'' DVD.
* The original video cover of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' is about the same as the original poster, with the most noticeable difference being [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/pixar/images/6/6d/ToyStory_VHS_1996.jpg Woody making a big goofy smile to nothing in particular]], rather than [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51K8r9COEQL.jpg giving Buzz a confused look]].
* ''Beyond Beyond'' is a Danish CGI movie that's rather slow-moving with heavy themes of grief and death, and while it's not an entirely kid-unfriendly movie, it's one that could be hard to sit through for younger audiences. So having a cover like [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91AojkgVlCL.jpg this]] is very, very misleading.
* The 2010 remastered DVD of ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'' uses [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51im35J-tTL.jpg cover art]] that makes Milo, Tock and the Humbug look like they are in the movie against their will.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* The original UK poster for Creator/RidleyScott's ''Film/{{Hannibal}}'' was deemed "too shocking and disturbing" for the public and was quickly recalled following several complaints. [[https://www.vintagemovieposters.co.uk/shop/hannibal-movie-poster/ It's easy to see why.]]
* In ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' the main character's job is to publish books with such covers -- even classic literature, such as ''Literature/LittleWomen'' (retitled as ''The Secrets of a Girls' Dormitory'').
* Not quite a "cover" as such, but the movie poster for ''Film/{{Star Trek V|The Final Frontier}}'' has an addition on its Japanese version which fits this trope down to the ground: a scantily clad alien catwoman was crudely placed onto the original artwork, where she hadn't been in the Western version of the poster. The scantily clad alien catwoman in question only appears in one (very brief) scene in the movie itself.
* The cover of the American video release of the Korean action film ''Film/{{Shiri}}'' features a nearly naked Asian woman with a gun. This does not reference anything within the film itself.
* The [[https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Affairs-Wu-jian-dao/dp/B00005JN7C cover]] for the American release of ''[[Film/TheInfernalAffairsTrilogy Infernal Affairs]]''. It features an attractive woman in a blue dress holding a large gun. The movie has maybe three female characters in it, but none of them are bombshells, even ''see'' any weapons over the course of the story, or have much more than five minutes of total screen time.
* Parodied in ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'', where the cover to the band's latest album "Smell the Glove" is described as a naked woman with a collar and leash having a leather glove[[note]]"You should have seen the picture they ''wanted'' to use. It wasn't a ''glove'', believe me."[[/note]] shoved in her face by a man dressed in BDSM gear, causing quite a bit of controversy. When the album comes out, they give it the least offensive cover imaginable; complete matte black (without even the name of the band or the album).
* The overly sensationalist title of the Italian {{Giallo}} ''Strip Nude for Your Killer''. Okay, so it's a murder mystery set in a modeling agency in 1970s Italy. Obviously, there are going to be many opportunities for FanService. But the film itself is barely any sleazier or more outrageous than anything else from its genre, certainly not to the pornographic level that the title implies. And no, the title is not due to ExecutiveMeddling or BlindIdiotTranslation, it's a direct translation of the Italian title.
* If you know nothing about ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', you could be forgiven for thinking it was a porn flick, given its title, tagline ("Look closer") and prominent image of a woman's midriff and a red rose. [[FridgeBrilliance This was probably invoked deliberately... look closer - don't judge a book by its cover!]]
* [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTcwNDE1NzMxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDUwNDgyMQ@@._V1_.jpg The original 1990 poster for]] ''Red Blooded American Girl'' is a world of difference from [[http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/Taliesin_ttlg/media/bWVkaWFJZDoxNDkyMDAwNA==/?ref= the cover of its later DVD release]], bearing more than a slight resemblance to highly stylised modern vampire films like ''Film/{{Blade}}'' and ''Film/Underworld2003''.
* The [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2314845952/tt1204340?ref_=tt_ov_i cover]] for the 2011 independent film ''Tyrannosaur'' got a lot of criticism, because many were drawn to its page expecting a ''Franchise/JurassicPark''-style action film. It's actually a drama about abusive relationships that has nothing to do with dinosaurs.
* The poster for Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder's film version of Film/{{Querelle}} depicts the title character leaning against a stone tower shaped like an enormous penis complete with balls, whilst holding a dagger at an [[Main/DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything incredibly suggestive angle]] in front of his groin. The alternate cover (designed by Creator/AndyWarhol) is less awkward, though still fairly homoerotic given that it depicts a man licking another man's face. Unlike many examples, these covers are actually a fairly accurate representation of the content.
* The notorious VHS cover of ''Film/TheDrillerKiller'' showing a tramp being stabbed through the head with an electric drill, which helped get the film banned in Britain.
* Disturbingly, this was done with the American release of the film ''Mignonnes'', also known as ''Film/{{Cuties}}'' outside of France. The film itself is a commentary of the effects of the media hypersexualizing young girls. When Netflix picked the film up for distribution, its marketing began to emphasize the hypersexualized aspect of the film, changing the poster of the film from a shot of the 11-year-old cast walking down the streets with shopping bags and confetti, to ''a shot of the cast wearing revealing outfits and doing provocative poses'', making the film look like the very kind of media it was making a statement about. The backlash against both the film and Netflix was so immediate, Netflix pulled the promotional material down and had to apologise for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Parodied on the British sitcom ''Series/AsTimeGoesBy'': The protagonist, a (white, older) Englishman named Lionel, has written a memoir of the decades he spent growing coffee in Kenya. In one episode, he is made to pose for a cover photo, dressed like an adventure hero in khaki, including a shirt revealing a lot of bare chest. A scantily-clad blonde is sprawled at his feet.
* The in-universe Nikki Heat novels in ''Series/{{Castle}}'' have the eponymous detective on the covers with a gun and little else. Beckett, the "muse", is unsurprisingly not amused. Despite clashing with the reality, however, it's not unfounded in the text of the {{defictionaliz|ation}}ed books, as one of the major differences between Beckett and Nikki Heat is that Heat, in Castle's words, is "kinda slutty."
** Ironically, Nikki Heat had several nude scenes in the first book, ''Heat Wave'', but none to speak of in the second book, ''Naked Heat''.
* Some ''Series/DoctorWho'' novelization covers fell into this, with a few covers in the Virgin ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' line notable for featuring somewhat sexualized renderings of companion Ace wearing a skin-tight outfit. Not that the actress, Sophie Aldred, seemed to object, as around that time she took part in a photo shoot in which she wore a real-life version of the costume for the cover of a book she wrote about her time on the show, and came off looking just as good as the rendering.
* Parodied in ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
-->'''Mrs. Bing:''' I have sold a hundred million copies of my books, and y'know why?\\
'''Ross:''' The girl on the cover with her nipples showing?\\
'''Mrs. Bing:''' No. Because I know how to write men that women fall in love with. Believe me, I cannot sell a Paolo. He's not a hero. You know who our hero is.\\
'''Ross:''' The guy on the cover with his nipples showing?
* Ernie Kovacs parodied this trope with a series of "more sex and violence" book covers, showing ''Little Women'' as ladies of ill repute, ''Peter Rabbit'' as a gangster, and a Webster's unabridged dictionary with a picture of a silhouette of a lady behind a window blind, with blurbs all over the cover such as "Unexpurgated!", "Four Letter Words!", and "Nothing Left Out!"
* Want to get viewers to watch, or rent the videotape of, your MadeForTVMovie about a waitress/single mother who finds out one of her daughter's teachers is instructing the students in the art of antisemitism, and decides to take on the teacher? It's easy. Cast Creator/RaquelWelch, give her character a job at the local "seedy" bar, feature her in her "work uniform" in the ''TV Guide'' ads and on the [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scandal-In-Small-Town-Tv-Film/dp/B000N20JTM VHS cover]], and name your film ''Scandal in a Small Town''. Viewings and rentals virtually guaranteed.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The Winchester brothers discover their hyper-masculine monster hunting lives are being chronicled in a series of pulpy novels. The covers show them shirtless, with Sam being portrayed by a long-haired Fabio.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* A certain French RPG sourcebook from the early 1990s (''[[http://www.legrog.org/jeux/hawkmoon/empire-tenebreux-fr L'Empire ténébreux]]'') featured a vivisection chamber where doctors from some bipedal reptiloid species (more specifically, humans wearing a mask) dissect screaming naked human beings ''who have been flayed alive''. The centerpiece involves a woman whose howling face has been stripped to the muscle, [[FanDisservice yet whose bare breasts remain somewhat intact]]. How such a cover made it out the door, much less onto store shelves, even in Europe, remains a mystery.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ExaltedContemptibleCover.jpg one notorious example]] where the focus of the picture seems to be the crotch of the scantily-clad and strangely disproportionate woman on it. Just to add insult to injury, fans had been saying for months that the artist who drew that mess, Hyung-Tae Kim, would be ''perfect'' for ''Exalted''. They apparently forgot to add "... with a sane editor guiding him".
%% * The tabletop RPG ''Glistening Chests'' was created as a parody and {{Deconstruction}} of contemptible covers. and?
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'':
** While it's certainly not ''cheesecake'', a [[VaginaDentata certain image]] on the ''back'' cover of the Tzimisce clanbook led to the book being sold in many stores in a solid black porn-bag. In-house artist Joshua Gabriel Timbrook had supposedly been chewed out for running late on the deadline, so he dashed the image off, handed it in, and went home the evening the book left for press.
** The BDSM-tinged cover for the supplement ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Ghouls-Fatal-Addiction-Vampire-Masquerade/dp/1565042301 Ghouls: Fatal Addiction]]'', while not out of line with the content, is considered a bit much by many gamers. Ghouls inspire a ''lot'' of BDSM-related content (in the corebook, the picture accompanying the text about them is a out-and-out slave auction); this is just what happens when it comes full-flower.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
** Among 3rd edition books, the naked sorceress on ''GURPS Wizards'' rather sticks out among otherwise sensible covers.
** The proposed covers for the 4th edition were so poorly received that Steve Jackson Games ran a design contest to replace them. An unfortunately-shaped rocket launcher dubbed the "dildo gun" became [[MemeticMutation a meme]].
* Nearly all of the supplements for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3''.5 edition produced by Avalanche Press have a ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''-style cover (some by actual ''Heavy Metal'' artists) that have ''almost'' nothing to do with the book's contents. And the models for those covers? Actual porn stars. Really.
** A particularly {{JustForFun/egregious}} example would be ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Odin-Tales-Norse-Gods/dp/0970796161 Doom of Odin: Tales of the Norse Gods]]'', which has an "archer" (well, she ''is'' holding a bow) who appears to be performing a hot squat.
** They even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d it at one point. In ''[[{{Dracula}} Vlad, Blood Prince of Wallachia]]'', during a discussion of period clothing, they add in the breezy comment "[[SelfDeprecation For an example of period female underwear, see the cover!]]"
* The fourth book of the ''Dragon Warriors'' RPG paperbacks, ''Out of the Shadows'', features a [[http://www.mocagh.org/otherbook/dragonwarriors4.jpg female mage surrounded by snakes]] with AbsoluteCleavage who does not appear in any of the following: the character class (Assassin) featured in the book; the monster write-ups; the sample adventures. Those are all the book contains.
* The first edition cover for ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' is a fan-art of Lina and Naga from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' as a fox and a wolf, Naga dancing in the background in her signature dental floss.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** The cover of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]''. Forget about the engaging WideOpenSandbox: on this cover, there's a barbarian girl in skanky {{Stripperiffic}} [[ChainmailBikini Breast Plates]], the likes of which appears nowhere in the rather {{Fanservice}}less game. ''Arena'' was originally intended to be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a fantasy gladiatorial RPG. It was only midway through the project's development that it began to evolve into the open-world of Tamriel, based off of the developer's home-brew ''[[Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' setting. Given that the cover, along with the title of the game, was designed early on for marketing purposes, it's actually rather appropriate. The French cover of ''Arena'' depicts a MrFanservice-looking dude, along with a wizard companion nowhere to be found in the game, preparing to slay some goblins.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' was luckier in this respect, featuring a rendition of the Underking clawing at the cover.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' is where the series' settled on the MinimalisticCoverArt it is now known for, averting it ever since.
** The cover of ''[[VideoGame/AnElderScrollsLegendBattlespire Battlespire]]'' goes all three ways at once: it's significant (weapon and enemy show-off), minimalistic, and features the SexySilhouette of a Daedra Seducer.
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines''[='=] cover prominently features the blonde-haired, big-boobed, pigtailed, mini skirt wearing, LesbianVampire Jeanette Voerman looking alluringly at the viewer while showing off her backside. Obviously, this was done for {{Fanservice}} purposes, since she's only a minor character and only shows up for about a third of the plot. To add insult to injury, [[spoiler: Jeanette doesn't even exist outside of her sister's broken mind]]. They already had a live person (Erin Layne) modeling Jeanette for some fanservicey promotional material, which at least helps explain the choice of character.
%%* In addition to [[CoversAlwaysLie not looking like]] the in-game graphics, the [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/sms/image/588116.html?box=3847 Western box art]] for ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' may also count as a Contemptible Cover. weblinks are not examples
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' ended up with [[http://www.theoldcomputer.com/game-box-art-covers/Sega/Megadrive-Genesis/P/Phantasy%20Star%20II.jpg this cover]]. Is that middle-aged man with the rifle and that lady with the demon horns supposed to be the player character and Nei?
* Most of the Master System's early box art in Western regions. While Creator/{{Nintendo}} used pixelated images to evoke the game's graphics in their NES releases, Sega instead went with a motif of a pure white case overlaid with a graph paper-esque grid, with a small cartoony image often pushed to the side.
** ''Black Belt'' probably got the worst of it, just being [[http://www.theoldcomputer.com/game-box-art-covers/Sega/Master-System/B/Black%20Belt.jpg a foot kicking]].
** ''[[https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/9/86382003_1b9c1ca59b_z.jpg?zz=1 Zillion]]'' got it pretty bad, too, with cover art featuring a cartoon rendition of an in-game ID card scanner.
* The North American box art for ''VideoGame/AlexKidd in the Enchanted Castle'' turns Alex from a cute kid with vaguely simian features into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kidd_in_the_Enchanted_Castle#/media/File:Alexkiddenchantedcastle1.jpg an incredibly stupid-looking dork that resembles a cross between Mortimer Snerd and the Bob's Big Boy mascot]].
* Scrolling Space Shooter ''VideoGame/{{Phalanx}}'' gave the world an [[http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/605411-phalanx-kemco-1992_760.jpg infamous example]]. The fact that the cover is predominated by an old man playing a banjo and the spaceship he's startled by is little more than a subtle afterthought is funny enough, but what makes it even better (worse?) is that it still features that tagline, "The Hyper-Speed Shoot-Out in Space!", which is surprisingly ''correct''- the seventh level does feature a hyper-speed shoot-out in space! This was apparently changed for the American release in light of what the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1phalanx_sfc_a_2840.jpg original Japanese art was]]. Their official reason was to make ''Phalanx'' stand out among a market glutted with similar shooters, but the Japanese cover makes it obvious that they had to do ''something'' with it.
* Ailish features prominently on the box art and disc of ''VideoGame/{{Sudeki}}'', but the main character is arguably Tal. Ailish ''does'' get a decent role in the game however, but she, strangely enough, manages to get ''less'' sexually appealing through the course of the game because she gets progressively more modest outfits.
* ''Every single installment'' of ''VideoGame/{{Spellforce}}'' series has a [[{{Stripperiffic}} scantily clad]] woman in the cover art. At least she's often a plot relevant NPC.
* ''VideoGame/TheMysteryOfTheDruids'', a rather average adventure game remembered for its hilarious, {{meme|ticMutation}}worthy [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_07_25_at_52411_pm_4.png box art]] and absolutely nothing else. Hell, most of the people who still remember this game even exists have probably never played it. It does however provide a pretty accurate impression of what you're getting for your money, because the Druid character in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_761sOC2d8 the opening cutscene]] really does look like that.
* Acclaim did this twice with their localization of the ''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Puzzle Bobble]]'' series, dumping the cute characters for [[http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/31626-bust-a-move-again-playstation-front-cover.jpg creepy men with sticks over their eyelids]] and [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/ps2/super-bust-a-move/cover-art/gameCoverId,28188/ a close-up of an uncute baby with sunglasses, blowing a bubble]] at separate points.
%% * [[http://kidfenris.com/features.html Kid Fenris' Gallery of Hideous Box Art]] has a good number of these.
* The infamous [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/image/198843.html?box=28033 box art]] of the first ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' game resembles the cover of a bad fantasy novel.
** With a Fu Manchu guy, the only thing that's accurate is the three-headed monster (which is just a random mook)
** Girl-on-Right appears suitably embarrassed to even be there.
** Making this even more inexplicable, the Japanese version has a completely serviceable cover that would've worked equally well for the US version -- a white plane with the game's name and a circle containing on-model depictions of as many of the game's LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters they could conceivably fit in it. (Said cover actually does appear on the front of the US version's instruction manual, which is inside the two disc sized jewel casing.)
* The box art of ''VideoGame/KarnaajRally'' is so notoriously ridiculous that it made Creator/{{Seanbaby}} [[http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/karnaajrally.htm infamously review this game solely based on the cover]]. After he eventually played it and found it a not very bad game, he congratulated the graphic artists for tricking him into avoiding it.
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mega_Man_1_box_artwork.jpg hilariously over the top]] North American ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' NES boxart. He looks like a painted lobster.
** And the [[http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/1614/797038-mega_man2_nes_us.jpg second]] [[http://satoshimatrix.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pal-boxart.jpg game]]. [[CallBack And the]] [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/2/22/Mm9_boxart.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091214044541 ninth]]. [[RunningGag And the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Megaman10.jpg tenth!]] [[CallBack As noted]], [[{{Retraux}} the last two were intentional]].
** Bad Box Art Mega Man also appears in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken''.
** ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon'' has Mecha Biker, a CaptainErsatz of Mega Man resembling the "bad box art" version.
* ''VideoGame/FeelTheMagic'' is hit doubly here. If either the title was changed, or the bikini-wearing girl on the cover was replaced, it wouldn't do much more than raise eyebrows. Unless the title change was to the one actually used in Europe, "Project Rub". Together, they unfairly make the game look like a sex simulator. To be totally fair, though, the game itself has heavy erotic themes (and the bikini-wearing girl is the female lead), so it's not that out of place. For that matter, it's toned down from the Japanese version if anything, where the bikini-wearing girl is nude, and the title is the significantly-more-provocative "I Would Die For You".
* For the European box art for ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', the distributors organized a contest on [=NeoGAF=] and let fans vote in on whose artwork would be shown off on the box. [[http://www.gamesetwatch.com/100112-blazblue-3.jpg This]] was the winning submission, but when the distributors got in contact with the artist, they decided to use a drawing of Noel instead. [[http://www.gamesetwatch.com/100112-blazblue-2.jpg This]] BoobsAndButtPose was the result. Complete with a tacked-on placeholder logo to boot.
* The North American release of ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' is reviled by fans for its "''Franchise/SilentHill'' knock off" cover, which ignores the fact that the game is an open sandbox mystery, and aims for a more Lynchian brand of horror.
* Most covers for ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' are [[http://www.3djuegos.com/juegos/5230/amnesia_the_dark_descent/fotos/ficha/amnesia_the_dark_descent-1715346.jpg tastefully done]], but the box art for a particular North American release has a monster stalking you on the front cover... and [[http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/258924-amnesia-the-dark-descent-windows-front-cover.jpg it's ridiculous]]. It looks more like a duck quacking at you than a horribly deformed monster stalking you in one of the most creepy games to have come out in recent years. It also completely defies the winning formula the game has of making the creature scarier by not allowing you, the player, to get a good look at it. And the man on the cover looks like he came from the present, even though the game is firmly set in the early 19th century.
* ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' features a goddess on its cover that is seen for like 20 seconds in the intro and nowhere else.
* ''VideoGame/TheGuardianLegend'' was distributed in North America by Creator/BroderbundSoftware, who gave it [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/TGL_Box.jpg this rather disturbing cover]]. It has nothing to do with the game, but greatly resembles the poster for the 1985 SF/horror movie ''Creature''.
* ''VideoGame/BlakeStone: Planet Strike'' was Creator/ApogeeSoftware's first retail title and, at the request of the publisher Formgen, the box art [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/Blake_Stone_Planet_Strike.jpg/250px-Blake_Stone_Planet_Strike.jpg depicts Blake with a BondGirl.]] This was a strange choice since there are no rescue missions for you to get the girl; the game plays like any other FPS.
* The Japanese cover of ''VideoGame/MisterMosquito'' shows a photograph of someone's foot with a mosquito crawling over their pinky toe.
* ''VideoGame/AkaneTheKunoichi'' is an otherwise adorable {{Retraux}} side-scroller that for some reason [[http://www.haruneko.com/images/wallpapers/AkaneTheKunoichi_1366x768.jpg features a sexy anime-style illustration of the main character in a very breast-exposing outfit on the cover]] and also featured prominently whenever you perform a special attack. Apparently they were really proud of that one drawing, to the point of using it over and over (again to re-emphasize, the entire game otherwise uses 16-bit graphics with the main character portrayed as an adorable inch-tall chibi sprite).
* The artwork used to advertise Dinamic's 8-bit computer game ''Game Over'' (a Luis Royo piece originally used for ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'') caused a bit of a scandal when it was imported to the UK, where the leading UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum magazines each handled it differently: while ''Your Sinclair'' magazine [[RefugeInAudacity had the audacity to print it as a poster]], partially exposed nipples and all, ''Sinclair User'' decided to CensorBox the offending area with a large Dinamic logo, and ''Crash'' had staff illustrator Oliver Frey subtly redraw the bustier's cups to be slightly less revealing while still showing AbsoluteCleavage.
* ''Cheggers' Party Quiz'', featuring an UncannyValley [[http://img.gamefaqs.net/box/4/0/6/89406_front.jpg CGI caricature of Keith Chegwin]]. [[http://image.jeuxvideo.com/images/wi/c/p/cpqzwi0f.jpg Some versions]] of the game, however, downplay Cheggers' role on the cover.
* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'''s [[https://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/File:Coversleeve_noborder.jpg cover]] drew a fair amount of contempt for being too "generic modern shooter" for fans of the series. WordOfGod admitted that it was done to appeal to the LowestCommonDenominator and get more sales, but the game itself wasn't going to receive the same treatment. The game even shipped with a reversible cover, with [[https://irrationalgames.ghoststorygames.com/insider/poll-winner-announced/ a much more stylish one]] on the other side fitting the tone of the game.
* Similarly, [[https://images.ctfassets.net/rporu91m20dc/3hGf9tJa8MAQgeWoMgI2m4/3c3b4865f76147b44d8e9cbe0caf5f3d/Doom_boxart-template-1200x1476.jpg the cover]] for ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' was lambasted for being an incredibly generic [[RealIsBrown sepia-tinted]] "man-in-armor with gun" pose and nothing else. There was eventually a Twitter poll held by the developers for new art that would be on the reverse of the cover. [[https://twitter.com/DOOM/status/705423011969699840 The new art]] proved so popular that it replaced the old art for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port.
* The cover of ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'' is a beautiful illustration showing two figures holding hands in the distance while travelling over a fantastical, quiet landscape of towers and ladders, a fitting image for a melancholic game based more on the idea of puzzle-solving and emotional connection. The US box art has a stiff CGI recreation of the protagonist scowling while holding a log, with a big floating girl's face on the left and the title done in shiny orange letters with a massive space between each one. The game ends up looking like a cheap and artless action game that most consumers passed over. Yasuhide Kobayashi, the Vice President of Sony Japan Studio at the time, even said that the reason ''ICO'' didn't sell in the US was because the box art was terrible, going out of its way to FollowTheLeader to create the impression of a derivative game.
* ''Palamedes'' was a fun arcade puzzle game about shooting pairs of colored dice to make poker hands, but for some reason when the game was ported to the NES they made the box art [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyTSeA5U8AAmZ-0?format=png&name=4096x4096 a bunch of weird anthromomorphic dice jumping on a terrifying man holding some dice (which are not anthromomorphic)]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics''' first book's cover doesn't have any naked ladies on it, but it might make people wonder why you're carrying around a [[http://ia700809.us.archive.org/zipview.php?zip=/25/items/olcovers50/olcovers50-L.zip&file=503617-L.jpg piece of meat]].
* Quite ironically inverted with ''Webcomic/ElleAndAllTheOthers''. The cover of each chapter shows an action packed scene with an occasional ShoutOut to popular video games. The comic itself is little more than PornWithPlot.
* Amusingly inverted with the book of ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' which has a purposefully "upper class" back cover styled like that of a wine conisseurs magazine so you can leave it on your coffee table without feeling embarrassed.
* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=420 #420]] with an unseen HeavyMithril cover that has [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot a dragon having sex with naked blonde chicks while beheading an unicorn in space]].
* ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'' used to have Flora stark nude, hugging Trace from behind as its banner art. Now that it's moved to Keenspot, the author toned it down a bit.
%% * Sven's cover in [[http://inkygirl.com/wwfc/month/july-2006?currentPage=4/ these]] [[http://www.willwriteforchocolate.com/2006/07/12/svens-book-signing/ two]] ''WillWriteForChocolate'' strips certainly qualifies.
* The Chapter 1 cover for ''Webcomic/BloodStain'' shows the AbsentMindedProfessor character creepily reaching for the young, female protagonist from behind. Okay, so the work pretends to be a GothicHorror before dissolving into a pleasant slice-of-life comedy, but the cover does not help with first impressions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* These are typically tagged as "bringing sexy back" and "wink wink nudge nudge" on [[http://lousybookcovers.com/ LousyBookCovers.com]], which also makes fun of a great many ''other'' kinds of execrable book covers such as those containing blatantly stolen images (tag: "image search gone wrong"), highly visible image compression artifacts (tag: "pixelation"), and horribly stretched or squished pictures (tag: "aspect ratio"), among other hideous and often offensive design failings. Basically, the site ''runs'' on this trope.
* Similarly, [[http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk Good Show Sir]], which specializes in science fiction and fantasy, has tags like "hunkbutt", "devil's dumplings" and "starkers" for these. Though the last one is sometimes FanDisservice, as the naked ladies are not all human.
* Discussed in ''[[WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Two Best Friends Funtime Adventures]]'': "Draw or Die". Matt and Pat somehow wind up in an otherworldly museum of videogame cover art. The final exhibit, implied to be the greatest cover art of all time, is the European/Japanese cover of ''VideoGame/{{ICO}}''. Matt, however, thinks this is boring, and insists the (much maligned) American cover art is much better because it features "a badass viking kid". Matt and Pat end up coming to blows over the disagreement.
* A trend in video thumbnails is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYrRq5U5kcc this]] video from Website/CollegeHumor. "It doesn't matter what the video is about; just have a butt in the thumbnail and people will watch it." Since the video has [[TruthInTelevision nearly 2 million views]], it's proven itself.
* ''Smart Bitches, Trashy Books'', a website that reviews romance novels, has a regular "[[http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/tag/cover-snark/ Cover Snark]]" feature where they mock lurid, trashy, poorly Photoshopped, and/or just plain WTF-worthy romance book covers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* A more lowbrow than sexy example: [[https://www.antimonkeybutt.com Anti Monkey Butt]]. Their products (a line of anti-chafing powders and lotions) work quite well, but their packaging (which features a goofy-looking cartoon monkey sprinkling powder onto its enormous, red, swollen butt) can make one think twice before taking them to the checkout.
[[/folder]]

----

* ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'': The ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire'' tie featuring the infamous cover seen [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a3/Heroes_for_Hire_Vol_2_13.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070913193242 here]]. While the interior features not a single tentacle naughty or otherwise. Various readers and critics vocally disapproved, pointing out the dripped slime on ComicBook/{{Black Cat|Marvel}}'s cleavage, and that one tentacle appeared to be unzipping [[ComicBook/DaughtersOfTheDragon Colleen Wing]]'s catsuit as being particularly over the line. Oh, and then [[ShaggyDogStory the title was cancelled two issues later]].

* ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'': The ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire'' tie featuring the infamous cover seen [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a3/Heroes_for_Hire_Vol_2_13.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070913193242 here]]. While the interior features not a single tentacle naughty or otherwise. Various readers and critics vocally disapproved, pointing out the dripped slime on ComicBook/BlackCat's cleavage, and that one tentacle appeared to be unzipping ComicBook/ColleenWing's catsuit as being particularly over the line. Oh, and then [[ShaggyDogStory the title was cancelled two issues later]].

Unfortunately, some books are cursed with the Contemptible Cover. The kind of cover that contains an excess of sexual, violent or otherwise lurid imagery, often at odds with the book's actual content. Though SexyPackaging isn't always bad, Contemptible Covers' trashy illustrations appear a simple and blatant effort to appeal to the LowestCommonDenominator. You may well be ashamed to be seen reading such a book at home, let alone on a bus -- or at the very least, it will make you wince.

Contrast FanserviceCover where the cover is made with the deliberate intent to titillate readers instead of it just baiting people to read the book.

** ''[[ComicBook/TheHiketeia Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia]]'' is an excellent graphic novel that launched Creator/GregRucka's popular four-year run on the main series. It's an engaging tale about debt, guilt and duty to the gods vs. duty to the government. The cover is a closeup of Wonder Woman stepping on Batman's head. Yeah, you'll definitely get some funny looks reading it in public.

** The Blu-ray release features a nude Panty straddling a large gun on the cover. Naturally, the set has a strategically-placed sticker over Panty's torso so it can be sold at mainstream retailers like Target or Walmart; and the sticker is notably absent at online retailers or specialty stores like Suncoast Motion Picture Company. Justified given the [[VulgarHumor nature of the series]], but it still qualifies.

* Some of the English DVD covers for ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' show the girls with exposed stomachs, embarrassed expressions, and skirts that are dangerously close to being [[PantyShot blown upwards by the wind]]. The {{Irony}} of course is that they were trying to market it as a FanService anime, when one of the show's major claims to fame is that it's a female-driven series that ''doesn't'' resort to FanService to entice viewers.

* The poster for Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder's film version of Querelle depicts the title character leaning against a stone tower shaped like an enormous penis complete with balls, whilst holding a dagger at an [[Main/DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything incredibly suggestive angle]] in front of his groin. The alternate cover (designed by Creator/AndyWarhol) is less awkward, though still fairly homoerotic given that it depicts a man licking another man's face. Unlike many examples, these covers are actually a fairly accurate representation of the content.

* Most of the Master System's early box art in Western regions counts. While Creator/{{Nintendo}} used pixelated images to evoke the game's graphics in their NES releases, Sega instead went with a motif of a pure white case overlaid with a graph paper-esque grid, with a small cartoony image often pushed to the side. ''Black Belt'' probably got the worst of it, just being [[http://www.theoldcomputer.com/game-box-art-covers/Sega/Master-System/B/Black%20Belt.jpg a foot kicking]].
%% ''[[https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/9/86382003_1b9c1ca59b_z.jpg?zz=1 Zillion]]'' got it pretty bad, too.
** Really, this was the norm for localized Sega games back in the day, especially [=RPGs=]. It would be faster to list games that ''don't'' suffer from this.

** And the [[http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/1614/797038-mega_man2_nes_us.jpg second]] [[http://satoshimatrix.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pal-boxart.jpg game]]. [[CallBack And the]] [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/2/22/Mm9_boxart.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091214044541 ninth]]. [[RunningGag And the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Megaman10.jpg tenth!]]
*** [[CallBack As noted]], [[{{Retraux}} the last two were intentional]].

*** ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon'' has Mecha Biker, a CaptainErsatz of Mega Man resembling the "bad box art" version.

* A strange variant concerning ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' - one of the variant covers, namely the [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/archiesonic/images/a/a2/MM_50_V4.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150311221321 cover]] to ''ComicBook/MegaMan'' [[MilestoneCelebration #50]] shows off horrible OffModel versions of OriginalGeneration characters Quake Woman and Xander Payne. At least Quake Woman looks like Quake Woman; it's hard to tell if the freaky eye-patched man really ''is'' Xander Payne.

* Similarly, [[http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk Good Show Sir]], which specializes in science fiction and fantasy, has tags like "hunkbutt", "devil's dumplings" and "starkers" for these. Though the last one is sometimes FanDisservice, as the naked ladies are not all human. Or ladies, for that matter.

* Three of the covers for ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'''s soundtrack depict female characters Momohime, Torahime, and Yuzuruha in [[SceneryCensor highly suggestive and underdressed]] poses.

** ''Franchise/WonderWoman: The Hikateia'' is an excellent graphic novel that launched Creator/GregRucka's popular four-year run on the main series. It's an engaging tale about debt, guilt and duty to the gods vs. duty to the government. The cover is a closeup of Wonder Woman stepping on Batman's head. Yeah, you'll definitely get some funny looks reading it in public.

* In the early 2000s, Marvel published an [[ComicBook/EmmaFrost2003 Emma Frost miniseries]] covering the character's early life, which was mostly teen drama, had relatively low-key artwork, and might have appealed to young women. Unfortunately, the covers of the comics were incredibly sexed-up pin-up shots of the adult Emma wearing an assortment of costumes that were even more revealing than the costume she normally wore at the time in ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', and if you've read that title you'll know that wasn't easy to achieve. This probably contributed to the series' failure. This is one of the worst examples, but many Marvel comics with solo female protagonists during this era featured heavily sexualised pin-up covers, often by Greg Horn, that give little clue as to the content inside.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]
* Some promotional material for ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' showed the main female character in a breast-baring {{Stripperiffic}} outfit which appears nowhere in the film. The male main character actually ends up showing more skin in the film itself than she does.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Music]]
* ''Haus der Lüge'' by Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten. How are you going to explain the record that has [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0000057NV/sr=8-38/qid=1220489817/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music&qid=1220489817&sr=8-38 an ejaculating horse on the cover]] to your parents? (NSFW, obviously.)
* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers' ''Mother's Milk'' album cover features a topless model, with miniature versions of the band members lying on her arms and leaning against her breasts. It's even more ridiculous when considering that the model herself was offended by certain versions of the cover that featured her nipples exposed, and successfully sued the band for $50,000.
** The band's Abbey Road E.P. features the band doing an AbbeyRoadCrossing only wearing their infamous wang-covering gym socks.
* Music/LizPhair's ''Music/ExileInGuyville'' features Liz topless in a photo booth, with the cover cutting off her photo near the cleavage.
* Music/TheBlackCrowes's third album ''Amorica'' shares its cover image with the bicentennial issue of ''Hustler'' Magazine. Before you jump to conclusions, no, there is no nudity. It's a close-up of a woman's bikini-clad crotch. In honor of America's bicentennial, she's wearing an American flag-print bikini. Oh, and there's some pubic hair sticking out from underneath the swimsuit, [[SarcasmMode but who cares about a little pubic hair, right]]? Turns out, the religious right was pretty bored that week, and launched a boycott of any retailers that carried the album, resulting in Walmart and Target refusing to sell it. Eventually an edited version was released: everything except the bikini was blacked out. Yes, even the woman.
** What makes this really interesting is that the band predicted there would be controversy with the cover, but not from the pubic hair. They expected people to be offended by showing an American flag in a sexual context, and were utterly shocked when nobody even mentioned that aspect.
* DeathMetal has this trope all over the place. Nothing as risky as walking around with an image of [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Tombofthemutilated.jpeg "corpse cunnilingus"]].
** Music/CannibalCorpse (who gave us that wonderful image) are the most infamous user in the genre. It's notorious enough to the point that pretty much every release of theirs has two covers: the uncensored cover, and the cover you'll find in stores at some countries like Austrialia (or in the ''VideoGame/RockBand'' song selection screen).
** The Music/{{Mayhem}} bootleg album ''Dawn of the Black Hearts'' notoriously uses [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Black_Hearts an actual photo of the singer's corpse following his suicide as the cover art]].
** Grindcore, which already is death metal UpToEleven, brings us (probably the most {{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW link on the page!) [[http://www.metal-archives.com/images/4/8/7/0/48708.jpg Kutschurft.]] The name is Dutch for "cunt scabies", and that's what you get to see, too.
* Carcass' first album, ''Reek Of Putrefaction'', has a collage of autopsy photos as its cover. It is so bad that it is sold in a white plastic bag.
* Music/MarilynManson, but not as often as you think. Only ''Music/MechanicalAnimals'' and ''Music/HolyWoodInTheShadowOfTheValleyOfDeath'' really fit, with the first one being a 100% naked, painted over (according to interviews, his junk is tucked between his legs) with white body paint Marilyn Manson... with big, fake, nippleless (though, there exists a pic of nippled) breasts. The second is Manson, crucified, but in a much more [[BloodierAndGorier historically accurate]] way, and missing his lower jaw. They also tried to make their first album a nude picture of Marilyn Manson as a kid (one of those embarrassing pics parents take when you're five type things), but the executives ruled it [[PaedoHunt pornographic]], much to the annoyed amusement of Manson. Also, a few of the singles are this as well. ''Lunchbox'' is [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Marilyn_manson_lunchbox.png this]] (NSFW), ''Get Your Gunn'' [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a5/Get_Your_Gunn.jpg/220px-Get_Your_Gunn.jpg contains child abuse]], ''Disposable Teens'' [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Marilyn_manson_disposable_teens.png is a crucified baby]], but otherwise, the covers (and he has a LOT of singles) are a lot tamer than the music videos.
* Music/XJapan's album ''Vanishing Vision'' has (Photoshopped, but still extremely disturbing) cover art of a woman with a slashed-open chest being raped. What makes it even worse is its irrelevance to almost all of the album.
* The Music/AlienSexFiend single "Smells Like" sports a banned cover that had a little too much ToiletHumour going on. It's a closeup image of a turd on a piano with spiders and flies crawling around it. The spiders and flies are rubber. The turd is, as far as anyone can tell, legit.
* Music/DimmuBorgir has some strange cover art. Whether it's a faceless goat-thingy, another goat-thing with exposed breasts or a headless, limbless and naked angel wrapped in barbed wire... it's not pretty.
* The original release of the Dutch prog rock album ''Atlantis'' by Earth and Fire featured an appalling cover design that depicts lots of blobby naked people floating around, apparently drawn in crayon. A later CD release wisely substituted a photo of the band.
* Another music example, defining music loosely: the cover of ''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo1TwoVirgins'' by Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno. So bad, it was wrapped in brown paper on initial release. [[FanDisservice They aren't even attractive nudes]]... which was kinda the point. Stripping away glamour and artifice in favor of honesty about the body was not only a hippie ideal, but something Yoko had done with her films for a long time, and John thought of nudity as representing innocence.
--> "The picture was to prove that we are not a couple of demented freaks, that we are not deformed in any way and that our minds are healthy. If we can make society accept these kind of things without offense, without sniggering, then we shall be achieving our purpose."
** Taken UpToEleven with the cover of the [[CrackIsCheaper infamous]] ''Music/TheFlamingLips and Heady Fwends'' [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/U-vaqJhdsY8/maxresdefault.jpg "blood vinyl edition"]], which is a variant of the ''Two Virgins'' cover that features the heads of the band and all collaborators on the album (Including Yoko and her and John's son, Sean Lennon) being pasted onto copies of John and Yoko's bodies.
* Music/TypeONegative's original cover for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_the_Feces ''The Origin of the Feces'']] is a photo of Peter Steele's anus. Brazil has [[http://sambasafari.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/todos-os-olhos.jpg a variant]], for musician Tom Zé's 1968 album ''Todos os Olhos'' (though it does look like a marble in a mouth instead of... ya know. It is an actual marble, by the way[[note]]"third eye" is a Brazilian slang for the anus[[/note]]).
* Also from Brazil, [[https://universalmusic.vteximg.com.br/arquivos/ids/162391-1000-1000/cd-mamonas-assassinas-mamonas-assassinas-mamonas-assassinas-00724383508228-268350822.jpg?v=637312256424670000 the only album by Mamonas Assassinas]], which shows the DoubleEntendre on the band's name (instead of 'mamona' as in castor bean, a big mammary - their self-made translation into English was even "Big Killer Breasts").
* The self-titled [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith_(Blind_Faith_album) ''Blind Faith'']] album and the Music/{{Scorpions}}' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer ''Virgin Killer'']] manage to take the "random naked people" style one horrible step further by using underage nude models. (Blind Faith took it even farther by having the 11-year-old model hold a very phallic chrome spaceship model.)
*** Blind Faith is interesting in that the ''planned'' model was legal-age... but then she declined at the last minute. The model they used was her kid sister, who volunteered when her older sister ditched.
*** The ''Virgin Killer'' cover art, in particular, is so controversial that in late 2008, it caused the album's Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} article to be temporarily [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWF_block_of_Wikipedia blocked in the UK]], then subsequently reversed thanks to political backlash and the StreisandEffect.
*** In addition to the aforementioned ''Virgin Killer'', some other Scorpions album covers feature nudity and/or are sexually suggestive, in particular ''In Trance'', ''Lovedrive'', ''Animal Magnetism'', ''Love at First Sting'', and ''Pure Instinct''. Then there are ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scorpions-Fly_To_The_Rainbow.jpg Fly to the Rainbow]]'' and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moment_of_Glory_-_Scorpions.jpg Moment of Glory]]'', which are embarrassing for entirely different reasons. (According to [[http://web.archive.org/web/20070714050441/http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/Interviews06/ulijonroth.htm this interview]], former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth dislikes the covers of both ''Fly to the Rainbow'' and ''Virgin Killer''.)
*** There's also an alternative ''Lovedrive'' cover which falls into the "embarrassing for entirely different reasons" category--it's a phallic scorpion.
%% ** Similarly, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Led_Zeppelin_-_Houses_of_the_Holy.jpg cover]] to Music/LedZeppelin's %% ''Music/HousesOfTheHoly''.
* Anything by Music/CocoRosie.
* Music/{{Ween}}'s [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Cratersofthesac.jpg cover]] for their digital-only album ''Craters of the Sac'' is a close-up of a scrotum. '''(NSFW)'''
* Music/PaulMcCartney took the cover photo/self-portrait for his 2001 album ''Driving Rain'' himself. With a digital watch-cam. In grainy black and white. In a ''restroom.'' At the time, there were a lot of people questioning his taste and thinking the cover was even worse than it looked.
** Music/NeilYoung did the same thing for ''Silver & Gold'', using a Gameboy Camera and Printer, but his looks more oddly mosaic.
* Good luck looking at Music/TheBeatles the same way ever again after seeing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Beatles_-_Butcher_Cover.jpg the original cover]] of ''Yesterday and Today''. While the photo was originally taken for a conceptual art piece, Paul [=McCartney=] did choose it for the album, but he was thankfully overruled.
* Australian grindcore band Blood Duster's debut album ''Yeest'' has for its cover a photo of the face of a (still living) person in the final stages of syphilis.
* The Dwarves. Any album by The Dwarves. Some album covers include: a topless woman in a Mexican wrestling mask holding a skateboard, naked women covered in blood, naked women holding a midget on a crucifix...
** ''The Dwarves Come Clean'' features some (still fairly off-color) self-parody: Two naked women covered in soap bubbles, next to a naked midget using a sponge as HandOrObjectUnderwear.
* Music/{{Chumbawamba}}:
** ''[[https://img.discogs.com/l9_LDK1QkpaVmx9T-o3m3NoBZss=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-337500-1461296078-5971.jpeg.jpg Anarchy]]'' was also sold in brown paper packaging. ('''{{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW!''') It's a baby being born! To be more specific, only the head is out and it's covered in blood, but it's in profile, and could have been even grosser.
** Their album ''What You See Is What You Get'' has a cover depicting a completely SFW photo of a dog... until you open it, and fold out the booklet, and it's revealed to be [[spoiler: cropped from a photo of mating dogs]].
* Just about ''everything'' involving Music/PassengerOfShit, a musician that can be best described as "Music/AnalCunt goes electronica". Don't even dare to do the Google Image Search (even with Safe Search on!). Just don't.
* Due to the way their logo is drawn, ''Music/AnalCunt'' counts as well... and, y'know, their name.
* The cover of the Japanese electronic music duo capsule's "Sugarless Girl" album is a picture of a voluptuous naked woman [[NippleAndDimed covering herself]].
* The [=LP=] release of [[Music/TheWho Keith Moon's]] solo album, ''Two Sides of the Moon'', showed Moon riding in a car on the cover. The window through which Moon is seen is cut through on the sleeve, so that the art varies depending on how the inner sleeve is inserted. Either he's looking out through the window while clutching a cane, or he's, appropriately enough, ''mooning'' the camera.
* Music/VenetianSnares' album ''Horse and Goat'' had to be sold with a reversible cover, with a close-up of a girl's face on the front and the real cover on the back. The first two manufacturers they went to wouldn't even print it. Not surprising, considering that the cover was done by Trevor [[Music/{{Guro}} Brown]]. (The intended cover shows the full image of the girl - she's wearing only a shirt, exposing her genitals, and she looks very young.)
* The Music/{{Gong}} album ''Acid Motherhood'' features a MisterSeahorse cover image.
** Similarly, ''Motherhood'' by Babybird.
* Liars' "It Fit When I Was A Kid" single, which features the band members [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LiarsUnCensored.jpg crudely photoshopped into gay porn]]. The censored version (probably deliberately) [[http://blog.roodo.com/wubai32/54cda6c8.jpg made it seem even worse than it actually was]].
* Music/LordsOfAcid used a few of these on their albums. Yes, more often than not they tend to be re-released with censored covers. ''Voodoo-U'' depicts a lesbian she-devil orgy, whereas ''Deep Chills'', in its attempt to parody the cover of ''Music/CheapThrills'', is probably even worse, with an image for each song on the album.
* Taken to entirely new levels by Music/{{Heavenly}}, who in their later releases subtituted more traditional power metal album covers for lesbian fantasy softcore pornography.
%% * Symphonic ProgressiveRock band Ars Nova have several such album covers, but the Japanese cover for the album ''Biogenesis Project'' tops them all. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ars_Nova_-_Biogenesis_Project_5972.jpeg Behold]] (warning: '''{{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW ''') weblinks are not exmples
* 70's rock band Mom's Apple Pie has one from their SelfTitledAlbum. [[http://static.gigwise.com/gallery/3235512_momsapplepie.jpg It looks completely innocent at first glance]], but just look closely at the apple pie. ('''{{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW''' to an extent)
** Outcries from outraged record store proprietors refusing to display the album forced their hand into censoring their own cover art. Later issues of the cover brick up the pie slice, stick a bunch of soldiers outside the window and place a tear in Mom’s eye. Guess which version is more collectible.
* Christian Metal (''stop snickering...'') band Barnabas actually had a pretty hard-rocking sound for the early 1980s - kinda like Music/JudasPriest meets AC/DC. So of course [[http://www.leconte.com/barnabas/images/htl2.jpg this]] was the cover of their first album (''recommence snickering'').
* [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130910215447/https://blueollie.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/moroniccoward.jpg?w=300&h=300 Smooth move, Mr. "God, Guts & Guns".]] Even for [[Music/TedNugent Terrible Ted]], this is... tacky.
* Some of the Music/{{Manowar}}'s album covers venture into this direction with all the shirtless barbarians and the topless succubi in them.
** [[http://thesuperape.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cover-manowar-anthology.jpg Boris Vallejo must have been busy that week...]]
* Mala Madre by the Chilean rock and folk singer-songwriter Camila Moreno. She appears naked under transparent clothing. Her breasts and genitals are visible.
* Music/{{NOFX}}'s ''Heavy Petting Zoo'' album and ''Eating Lamb'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Petting_Zoo 12-inch EP]]. The former depicts a man fondling a sheep, and the latter depicts him and the sheep [[BestialityIsDepraved going 69]].
* This isn't really a cover, but the disc of Music/{{Tool}}'s ''[=Æ=]nima'' album had a picture of a naked contortionist (taken from behind) - it could still prove awkward if you, say, put the disc itself in a CD wallet and let someone flip through. This is from a picture that appeared in the album artwork. The album's lyrics do not have any sexual meaning. Their ''Undertow'' album's liner notes also contained some offensive pictures that do not relate to the songs.
** Admittedly, "Stinkfist" from ''[=Æ=]nima'' was about, well, ''fisting''.
* Music/BulletForMyValentine's album ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever_(Bullet_for_My_Valentine_album) Fever]]''. If you don't want to click the link, it's a profile photo of a pale, scantily clad woman.
* Music/TheBloodhoundGang's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hefty_Fine Hefty Fine]]''. The album is already badly reviewed, and the cover doesn't help.
** Similarly, the female body is showcased in ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Show Us Your Hits]]'' (FanService) and ''Hard-Off'' (FanDisservice).
* The original [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Gaga_-_The_Remix_1.png cover]] to Music/LadyGaga's ''The Remix''. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Gaga_-_The_Remix_2.png alternative]], by contrast, is much classier.
* The original cover to Music/BigBlack’s ''Headache'' featured a [[GrossUpCloseUp stomach-turning close-up]] of the victim of a close-range gunshot wound to the head. It was replaced by a less offensive (but still sinfully ugly) cover.
* The cover for the 2010 vinyl remaster of Music/{{XTC}}'s album, ''Music/{{Skylarking}}'', which features a shot of female pubic hair with flowers. The cover was rejected by Virgin in 1986. Sometimes, [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]] [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools have a point]].
* The Handsome Beast's ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20130924204720/http://images1.makefive.com/images/entertainment/comedy/most-ridiculous-album-covers-of-all-time/the-handsome-beasts---beastiality-7.jpg Bestiality]]'' album cover depicts a naked fat guy near a pig. It is not safe for work, eyes, or sanity. Click at your own risk.
** [[http://www.thehandsomebeasts.co.uk/Discography.html The Handsome Beasts]] are repeat offenders.
* Music/{{Supertramp}}'s ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indelibly_Stamped Indelibly Stamped]]'' consists of the arms and chest of a naked and heavily-tattooed woman.
* {{Website/Cracked}}'s list of [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16761_the-15-worst-album-covers-all-time.html The Fifteen Worst Album Covers of All-Time]].
** It should be noted that one of these is a spoof of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' ''Whipped Cream and Other Delights'', which along with much of that band's catalogue is itself a perfect example of this trope.
* The [[http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/dan/covers/guns.jpg original cover]] for Music/GunsNRoses debut album ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' ('''Warning: NSFW''')
* The cover of [[http://www.nashvillepussy.com/discography?id=38 this]] (NSFW) Nashville Pussy record was censored via huge, pink stickers. Not only did the stickers cover the lower half of the front cover image, but the title (replacing it with simply "Let Them Eat..." because no one would make ''that'' connection) and the entire track list on the back (one of those tracks was nominated for a Grammy.) Once the album was purchased, the stickers would come off along with the saran wrap, so it was at least a very tidy method.
** Some versions of the aforementioned Music/{{Scorpions}}' ''Lovedrive'' album used a similar technique, covering the album with opaque red shrink wrap.
* The great funk band [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Players Ohio Players]] became notorious for the depictions of naked or scantily-clad women on their album covers, which has overshadowed the actual music in terms of their historical reputation.
* Dutch singer Connie Stuart did a parody of this with "Hoezenpoes", describing the life of a classical music album "cover pussy".
* The cover of ''Load'' by Music/{{Metallica}} features a photograph titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Semen and Blood III]]. That said, if you didn't know what materials were used in the artwork, you'd just think it was some sort of abstract painting.
* Music/WolfAlice's official debut EP [[http://www.nme.com/reviews/album/reviews-various-artists-14846 "Blush"]] makes you do precisely what the title says. The band wanted to invoke a feeling of awkwardness, one that would make awkward teenagers even more awkward. So how else could they do better than having a female's body from the waist up, with the head obscured. Oh, and did I mention that '''she's naked, with breasts unashamedly on display?''' (it goes without saying NSFW.)
* Music/TheSlits' ''Cut'' famously features the three female members of the band [[note]]male drummer Budgie doesn't appear anywhere in the artwork[[/note]] dressed only in topless loincloths and covered in mud. It was clearly intended to make them look tribal and confrontational instead of sexy though, and in that sense it did fit the content of the album.
* The cover art for the Lady Sovereign single "Love Me or Hate Me" features Lady Sovereign FlippingTheBird.
* Although it's not ''technically'' vulgar, when Geoff Tate's version of Music/{{Queensryche}} revealed the cover art for ''Frequency Unknown'' - a fist with a pair of rings bearing the letters "F" and "U" - most fans were not amused. It really didn't help that Queensrÿche has a long-standing reputation as "the thinking man's metal band."
* Much milder than some of these examples, but [[Music/DexysMidnightRunners Kevin Rowland's]] 1999 solo album ''[[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/415HGCGD6AL.jpg My Beauty]]'' drew ire for its cover, a picture of Rowland in drag.
* The otherwise acclaimed 1961 Decca/London recording of the opera ''Theatre/{{Salome}}'' had an [[http://img.snowrecords.com/lp/7/69228.jpg infamously creepy shot]] of Birgit Nilsson on the cover.
* It's worth giving this one context. Experimental/industrial/alternative hip-hop group Music/DeathGrips promised two albums in 2012: the first one was ''The Money Store'', which was released in April. The second album, ''No Love'', was promised for a release in the Fall, with the band canceling an entire tour to work on it. However, on September 30th, the band revealed via their (now-defunct) Twitter account that their label, Creator/EpicRecords, didn't want them to release the album, now titled ''No Love Deep Web'', in 2012, pushing it back for a 2013 release. The band then put the full album up for streaming on their website, their Soundcloud, and their [=YouTube=] account, with their website also hosting the album for free download. Complementing this outburst against Epic was the album's cover: a picture of one of the band member's erect penis against a bathroom wall, with the album's name sharpied onto it.
** The album finally got a retail release through Harvest in November 2013 (looks like Epic got what they wanted after all), complete with black paper over the cover stating that it "Contains graphic imagery that may be offensive to some people."
** There are three censored versions of the cover. One replaces the penis with a black bar. Another simply pixellates it, resulting in a TextlessAlbumCover save for the Parental Advisory label. The final is a completely alternate image that shows shoes worn by a man and the words "SUCK MY DICK" imprinted onto the socks.
* The cover to [[Music/SkyFerreira Sky Ferreira’s]] ''Night Time, My Time'' is an artistic photograph of the artist nude in the shower from the waist up. Digital prints zoom in the picture so her nipples aren't seen.
* Basement Jaxx's ''Remedy'' depicts a [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs quite abstract]] picture of several naked bodies lying together in really close positions.
* Music/KanyeWest's ''Music/MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy'' has, as one of the alternative covers, a [[FanDisservice very poorly-drawn]] pornographic image of a grinning black man screwing an armless phoenix with SideBoob, a gaping mouth, and a spotty tail. This was meant to be the main cover, but retailers refused to carry it.
* The ImageSong single accompanying ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', "Love Deterrence", features Paz, who looks like a young teenager. Her school uniform is printed separately on a piece of acetate, which slides out, revealing her in her underwear. It's [[ActuallyPrettyFunny undeniably funny]], but obviously rooted in some upsetting sexual politics, and just try explaining it to your mother.
* Music/MileyCyrus's 2013 album ''Music/{{Bangerz}}'', which has several alternative covers all featuring Miley on a [[DiscoDan deliberately uncool]] [[{{Retraux}} 1980s-style backdrop]] that does not fit either the music or her image. At least one of the covers features her in a heavily filtered shot surrounded by roses, with a square crop around the edge that doesn't even go up the edge of the artwork, looking like a crappy Internet signature from the 90s.
* The 2001 recording of Music/JohannSebastianBach's St. Matthew Passion on Teldec, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, has a trussed-up lamb on the cover. Even though ItMakesSenseInContext, it's a fairly unnerving image.
* The early synth album ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Moog Plays the Beatles]]'' by Marty Gold has a pair of naked clay figurines (a man and a woman) on the cover. Not surprisingly, the iTunes download version has their naughty bits covered by a sticker.
* The album ''Alles ist Gut'' by ''Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft'' shows the upper body half of the [[http://i.imgur.com/RmVwDyU.jpg sweat-covered Gabi Delgado-López]].
* The outer booklet cover to ''Music/{{Frankenchrist}}'' by Music/DeadKennedys wasn't all that bad, depicting shriners riding tiny cars at a parade. However, inside the booklet was a painting by the late Creator/HRGiger, showing self-sodomising penises and vulvae ([[http://leblogdeshige.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DK-1.jpg NSFW]]). MoralGuardians were majorly upset, and the resulting controversy nearly drove the band's label Creator/AlternativeTentacles to bankruptcy.
* The UK cover of ''Music/ElectricLadyland'' by Music/JimiHendrix features a group of nude women. This was done without Hendrix' permission, mind you. It doesn't help that the photograph is very grainy-looking and unflattering.
* The cover of ''Music/DiamondDogs'' by Music/DavidBowie shows a painting depicting Bowie as a man-dog hybrid and a pair of similar individuals. One provocative detail on the cover was Bowie's dog half baring its genitals, which were airbrushed out on some copies, to Bowie's distaste. Bowie would encounter a similar issue 17 years later with ''Tin Machine II'', which had the crotches of the nude male statues on the front cover digitally etched out on the American release, again to the singer's distaste. Amusingly, at one point he considered providing American buyers with an offer to send in proofs of purchase to receive stickers of the statues' genitals in exchange (with the intention of them being stuck back on the scratched-out crotches, thereby de-censoring the album art), only to drop the plan after being informed that sending depictions of genitals through the mail was a serious legal offense.
* Dum Dum Girls' ''Blissed Out'' has a cover featuring three nude women standing in front of fir trees. According to lead singer Dee Dee Penny, it's an image she found online while looking for potential album artwork, and was originally from a German soft-core pornography film; Because ''Blissed Out'' was a limited-run, cassette-only compilation, she figured it was the only way she'd get away with using it as an album cover. It's also been interpreted as a ShoutOut to Music/RoxyMusic's ''Country Life'', which featured half-naked women in a very similar setting, but the band have never mentioned that being a motivation for choosing the photo.
* Autre Ne Veut's cover for their ''Body'' EP appears to be a close-up of a certain female part, though the artist has stated in interviews that it is in fact a closeup of oiled hands.
* Several of Music/JohnZorn's album covers are controversial, especially those recorded with his bands Naked City and Painkiller.
** "Torture Garden" (1990) by Naked City shows a nude Asian woman with a whip.
** "Heretic" (1992) by Naked City shows women photographed from the back in S&M outfits.
** "Leng Tch'e" (1992) by Naked City shows an image of a real life Chinese slow slicing torture executio method practiced upon a man in 1905.
** ''Music/{{Radio}}'' (1993) by Naked City features a man in bondage costume holding on to a chain.
** "Guts Of A Virgin" (1991) by Painkiller features an old black-and-white autopsy photo of a woman whose stomach is cut open. The cover art was censored in the UK at the time.
** "Buried Secrets" (1992) by Painkiller shows two handcuffed hands digging up a human skull.
** "Rituals: Live in Japan" (1991) by Painkiller shows a woman hitting a man in an S&M bondage situation.
** "Execution Ground" (1994) by Painkiller has a picture of a lynched black man hanging from a tree.
** The original cover of ''Music/MusicForChildren'' (1998) featured a disturbing girl doll with breasts.
** "Filmworks XXI: Belle de Nature/The New Rijksmuseum" (2008) features a shot of a nude woman lying on her back in the grass.
* Music/IronMaiden is usually renowned for their quite awesome hand-painted album covers, most of them made by artist Derek Riggs. So why are they listed on this page? Because two of their covers, both of which opted for a different visual style and didn't have Riggs involved in their creation, didn't turn out too well. The first was the cover of 1995's ''The X Factor'' [[http://www.metalinsider.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Iron-Maiden-The-X-Factor-front-cover.jpg which used clay models]] (making it very graphic and unnerving), and the second, more egregious example was 2003's ''Dance of Death'' which used downright [[http://www.ironmaidenwallpaper.com/files/album_iron_maiden_dance_of_death.jpg poor-quality CGI]] that looks like it was made using ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' engine (or worse yet, rendered in Poser). Apparently the ''Dance of Death'' cover was only supposed to be a mock-up, and was never intended to be used as the final product, but for some reason, it was.
* Most pornogrind covers are this.
* The cover of ''Sex & Violins'' by Rednex depicts the band's heads floating in a bucket [[{{Squick}} filled with pee]]--and we see some legs near the bucket and a stream of it coming down the middle. For its American release, it was substituted with a cover depicting wavy, somewhat phallic-looking cacti.
* ''Muzak'' by Saturnia is literally a picture of a nipple.
* The sleeve for the single "Infected" by Music/TheThe depicts the devil [[ADateWithRosiePalms enjoying himself]], so to speak.
* One of the Japanese covers for the soundtrack to ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'' has one of [[GiantSquid Oodako]]'s tentacles covering Momohime's otherwise exposed crotch and her breasts almost falling out of her kimono. Another cover shows Yuzuruha sitting in a seductive pose, lifting her kimono with her foot barely acting as a SceneryCensor, a third has Torahime naked in a BoobsAndButtPose with one arm covering her breasts and her buttocks obscured by her flesh turning transparent, and a forth is of a naked Momohime seen from behind with her shoulders, back, and butt covered in tattoos, glaring over her shoulder while drawing a sword.
* The debut album of Infernal Torment, an obscure Belgian DeathMetal band, named Man's True Nature, had [[http://www.metal-archives.com/images/8/5/8/2/8582.jpg?1132 this]] as its cover. To say that it [[CrossesTheLineTwice crosses the line quite a few times]] is a severe {{Understatement}}. (Warning: link is NSFW)
* The originally intended artwork to Music/RobZombie's remix album ''Mondo Sex Head'' depicted a bottomless Sheri Moon Zombie from behind. After stores refused to carry the album, a new design featuring a kitten was used, and the photo of Sheri Moon was only used for the vinyl edition - Rob Zombie described the use of the alternate cover as replacing an "ass shot" with a "pussy shot".
* Music/TheSmiths' debut single "Hand In Glove" featured an image of a naked man from behind, a licensed photograph by homoerotic photographer Jim French which was originally published long before the single's release. Morrissey chose the cover art and was deliberately courting controversy with the sleeve. Later on, The Smiths were trying to get vocalist Sandie Shaw to cover some of their material, and at one point they sent her a copy of the "Hand In Glove" single: She did cover the song, but the artwork didn't leave a good initial impression, as she reportedly exclaimed to her husband "he's started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!".
* {{UsefulNotes/Synthwave}} artist Perturbator has a bad tendency to have these types of covers for his [=EPs=] and albums, especially due to them being based off of 80's slasher movies. Practically all of them have some sort of a scantily clad woman on there somewhere, sometimes with satanic imagery in tow; for example, ''The Uncanny Valley'''s sole figure is a nude succubus.
* The Music/SexPistols' only album, ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', was the subject of a public obscenity case regarding the word "bollocks" which was later thrown out. When ''God Save the Queen'' was released as a single, it caused even more controversy when the cover art featured a defaced depiction of Queen Elizabeth II.
* ''The Seer'' by the Music/{{Swans}} is an example of a Contemptible ''Back'' Cover. The front cover, which shows a stylized wolf head, isn't likely to cause offense. The back cover, which shows the wolf's butthole, on the other hand...
* While not featuring any nudity, ''New Killer America'', the debut album by the short-lived NuMetal band Skrape more than makes up for it by giving us this [[SarcasmMode lovely]] image of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NewKillerAmerica.jpg a busted toe]]. Their second (and final) album ''Up the Dose'' thankfully features much more subdued imagery.
* The cover of Royal Trux's ''Sweet Sixteen'' shows a [[{{Squick}} broken toilet]] with all sorts of [[SarcasmMode lovely]] things inside it, including used toilet paper and [[NauseaFuel what looks like a combination of puke and diarrhea]]. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Sixteen_(Royal_Trux_album) Don't click on the link unless you have a stomach of iron]].
* The self-titled debut album by Moby Grape featured a group photo of the band, with drummer Don Stevenson FlippingTheBird to the camera. Initial pressings of the album featured the undoctored photo, but the offending digit was airbrushed out for later pressings.
* The original release of ''8-Way Santa'' by Tad featured an extremely [[TheSeventies 70s]] found photo of a shirtless man fondling a woman in her underwear. Later pressings used a photo of the band, not because the original was too risque but because the woman in the photo found out and threatened to sue.
* The original back cover for Music/{{Hawkwind}}'s ''[=PXR5=]'' was censored not for reasons of sex or violence, but safety. The picture showed a British electrical plug - the self-wiring kind, from the days before plugs came pre-fitted to appliances - with the wires attached to the wrong terminals. A spoof health warning beneath the picture read "This Wiring Could Seriously Damage Your Health". Soon after that, record stores were forced to sell the album with a blank sticker covering the image, and reissues omitted it, although the front cover still included elements from it. The Cherry Red CD reissue restores the original image - slightly cropped and without the health warning, but still showing the Earth wire attached to the Live pin.
* The album art for Mr.Kitty's ''ETERNITY'' features an image of [=JonBenét=] Ramsey, a child pageant star whose 1996 murder has remained unsolved, edited to have a cat's face.
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* Not quite a "cover" as such, but the movie poster for ''Film/{{Star Trek V|The Final Frontier}}'' has an addition on its Japanese version which fits this trope down to the ground: a scantly clad alien catwoman was crudely placed onto the original artwork, where she hadn't been in the Western version of the poster. The scantly clad alien catwoman in question only appears in one (very brief) scene in the movie itself.

* A trend in video thumbnails is lampshaded with {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYrRq5U5kcc this]] video from Website/CollegeHumor. "It doesn't matter what the video is about; just have a butt in the thumbnail and people will watch it." Since the video has [[TruthInTelevision nearly 2 million views]], it's proven itself.

* Many animated features sport covers that go way too far in the opposite direction of your usual "let's add sex and violence" Contemptible Cover art. By far the best examples would be ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', and ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' -- all of them sport cover art that crawled right out of the depths of the AnimationAgeGhetto and are [[TastesLikeDiabetes insanely inaccurate]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids given the actual tone of the three films]]. Animated films can also suffer from having OffModel stock art on their DVD covers, for example, the DVD covers of ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' and ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''. And this is all despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original VHS covers.

* Another music example, defining music loosely: the cover of ''Music/UnfinishedMusicNo1TwoVirgins'' by Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno. So bad, it was wrapped in brown paper on initial release. [[FanDisservice They aren't even attractive nudes]]...