The New York Times’ T Magazine frequently runs different first covers. “It’s a split run, or split copy: different versions of a New York Times print product distributed throughout the country. It is the fourth time this year that T has run more than one cover image. The photo shoot, directed by Boots Riley, is paired with an essay by Ayana Mathis on the variety and resonance of black male voices in American letters, and it is anchored by a two-page spread — or “reveal,” in magazine parlance. For 30 playwrights, poets and novelists assembled in a stately library by a revered underground M.C.-turned-filmmaker, one cover simply would not do.”
So does the New York Times Magazine. “Split-run covers are also used several times a year by The New York Times Magazine. In June, the “Love City” issue ran with 24 different covers: one for every hour of a day, with each photo featuring a different couple. It was a celebration of the diversity and ubiquity of love in New York.”
“Unless there is a geographic preference, the idea is to evenly distribute the versions of the magazine to seven national print sites: Chicago; Concord, Calif.; Dallas; two in Los Angeles; Seattle; as well as the New York Times printing plant in College Point, Queens. Downstream, the run is sorted further. The goal is concerted randomness.” And “Could two neighbors get different covers? “The likelihood is that they are getting different covers on the same block,” Ms. McCauley said.”
I highly recommend reading the whole article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/reader-center/split-run-different-cover-magazine.html