Playboy will stop publishing photos...

J.R. · Oct 12, 2015

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Playboy will stop publishing photos of naked women <a href="http://t.co/WrqC39esZO">http://t.co/WrqC39esZO</a> <a href="http://t.co/5GZKlmRYo3">pic.twitter.com/5GZKlmRYo3</a></p>— The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/653747759598731264">October 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Last month, Cory Jones, a top editor at Playboy, went to see its founder Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.

In a wood-paneled dining room, with Picasso and de Kooning prints on the walls, Mr. Jones nervously presented a radical suggestion: the magazine, a leader of the revolution that helped take sex in America from furtive to ubiquitous, should stop publishing images of naked women.

Mr. Hefner, now 89, but still listed as editor in chief, agreed. As part of a redesign that will be unveiled next March, the print edition of Playboy will still feature women in provocative poses. But they will no longer be fully nude.

Its executives admit that Playboy has been overtaken by the changes it pioneered. “That battle has been fought and won,” said Scott Flanders, the company’s chief executive. “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.”

For a generation of American men, reading Playboy was a cultural rite, an illicit thrill consumed by flashlight. Now every teenage boy has an Internet-connected phone instead. Pornographic magazines, even those as storied as Playboy, have lost their shock value, their commercial value and their cultural relevance.

...

When Mr. Hefner created the magazine, which featured Marilyn Monroe on its debut cover in 1953, he did so to please himself. “If you’re a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you,” he said in his first editor’s letter. “We enjoy mixing up cocktails and an hors d’oeuvre or two, putting a little mood music on the phonograph, and inviting in a female acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex ...” He did not put a date on the cover of the first issue, in case Playboy did not make it to a second.

Mr. Hefner “just revolutionized the whole direction of how we live, of our lifestyles and the kind of sex you might have in America,” said Dian Hanson, author of a six-volume history of men’s magazines and an editor for Taschen. “But taking the nudity out of Playboy is going to leave what?”

The latest redesign, 62 years later, is more pragmatic. The magazine had already made some content safe for work, Mr. Flanders said, in order to be allowed on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, vital sources of web traffic.

In August of last year, its website dispensed with nudity. As a result, Playboy executives said, the average age of its reader dropped from 47 to just over 30, and its web traffic jumped to about 16 million from about four million unique users per month.

The magazine will adopt a cleaner, more modern style, said Mr. Jones, who as chief content officer also oversees its website. There will still be a Playmate of the Month, but the pictures will be “PG-13” and less produced — more like the racier sections of Instagram. “A little more accessible, a little more intimate,” he said. It is not yet decided whether there will still be a centerfold.

Its sex columnist, Mr. Jones said, will be a “sex-positive female,” writing enthusiastically about sex. And Playboy will continue its tradition of investigative journalism, in-depth interviews and fiction. The target audience, Mr. Flanders said, is young men who live in cities. “The difference between us and Vice,” he said, “is that we’re going after the guy with a job.”

Some of the moves, like expanded coverage of liquor, are partly commercial, Mr. Flanders admitted; the magazine must please its core advertisers. And all the changes have been tested in focus groups with an eye toward attracting millennials — people between the ages of 18 and 30-something, highly coveted by publishers. The magazine will feature visual artists, with their work dotted through the pages, in part because research revealed that younger people are drawn to art.

The company now makes most of its money from licensing its ubiquitous brand and logo across the world — 40 percent of that business is in China even though the magazine is not available there — for bath products, fragrances, clothing, liquor and jewelry among other merchandise. Nudity in the magazine risks complaints from shoppers, and diminished distribution.

He and Mr. Jones feel that the magazine remains relevant, not least because the world has gradually adopted Mr. Hefner’s libertarian views on a variety of social issues. Asked whether Mr. Hefner’s views on women were the exception to that rule, Mr. Flanders responded that Mr. Hefner had “always celebrated the beauty of the female figure.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Mr. Jones said of the decision to dispense with nudity, “12-year-old me is very disappointed in current me. But it’s the right thing to do.”
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Nook · Oct 12, 2015

And ..... It.... Is....circling.... The ..... Drain

Dairy Ashford · Oct 12, 2015

Nook said: ↑

And ..... It.... Is....circling.... The ..... Drain
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That's probably the case internally, this might just be one push to re-brand and stave off bankruptcy. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense, they're still the only ones who can get celebrities to do this rather than teen runaways or rundown models. They're probably one of the few publications that can pull off a paywall online.

TheresTheDagger · Oct 12, 2015

Best idea since!.......

Raven · Oct 13, 2015

Their nudes were too air brushed anyway. Seriously, the best thing about PB is the interviews, and I'd be interested in buying those if they were sold separately.

Invisible Fan · Oct 13, 2015

pouhe said: ↑

That's probably the case internally, this might just be one push to re-brand and stave off bankruptcy. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense, they're still the only ones who can get celebrities to do this rather than teen runaways or rundown models. They're probably one of the few publications that can pull off a paywall online.
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It's a rebrand in between maxim and gq with an eye towards merchandising.

Cold Hard · Oct 13, 2015

Playboy has been outdated and irrelevant for years. Hardly anyone cares about them today. Therefore Playboy had to do something to try and keep afloat. I don't think this rebranding idea will do them any good though. Existing perceptions are very hard to overcome.

Playboy's demise is nigh. It's had a good run, but you can stick a fork in them now.

RunninRaven · Oct 13, 2015

You're just a click away from the crap Maxim and GQ publishes too. Unless you plan on doing something that is not contained on the internet (is that even possible anymore?) then this is a stupid reason to make a change.

FTW Rockets FTW · Oct 13, 2015

I had making pron videos and pron stars are losing $$$ due to the abundance of free stuff online

dragician · Oct 13, 2015

hugh hefner is old and dying and trying to make up for the sins he committed.

Jontro · Oct 13, 2015

They had good articles.

But Brazzers was probably killed them off.

ferrari77 · Oct 13, 2015

Jontro said: ↑

They had good articles.

But Brazzers was probably killed them off.
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"Do we not exist?" ---- Reality Kings

mario_v · Oct 13, 2015

ferrari77 said: ↑

"Do we not exist?" ---- Reality Kings
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I'm more of a Bangbros fan.

VanityHalfBlack · Oct 13, 2015

Jontro said: ↑

They had good articles.

But Brazzers was probably killed them off.
Click to expand...

Wow, I'd thought this news would hit home for you the most? I'm glad that you are in good spirits my brother. I was going to call for help. Are you sure you're okay about this matter?

HR Dept · Oct 13, 2015

VanityHalfBlack said: ↑

Wow, I'd thought this news would hit home for you the most? I'm glad that you are in good spirits my brother. I was going to call for help. Are you sure you're okay about this matter?
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He's fine. This isn't 1974.

DaDakota · Oct 13, 2015

Magazines are dead, they are in a death spiral.

DD

Xerobull · Oct 13, 2015

They still have their brand of premium naked ladies. How can they do that without premium naked ladies? They need new management.

No Worries · Oct 13, 2015

Water is no longer wet.

Rocket River · Oct 13, 2015

DaDakota said: ↑

Magazines are dead, they are in a death spiral.

DD
Click to expand...

I am curious as to how many are really being sold these days

esp compare to their heyday

Rocket River

Mr. Brightside · Oct 13, 2015

Now people will finally believe me when I tell them I subscribe to Playboy for the writing and articles.

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