Playboy Magazine to stop publishing nude photos

[Ellis_D]

http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/10/playboy-magazine-will-no-longer-publish-nude-photos-thanks-to-the-internet/

 

Speaking to The New York Times, Playboy CEO Scott Flanders explained the reasoning behind the change: "You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture."

 

 

The decision to revamp the magazine is no doubt predicated on last year's decision to remove nudity from the Playboy website. In 2014, before the change, the Playboy website had about 4 million users with an average age of 47; today, with no nudity, the site has about 16 million users with an average age of "just over 30."

 

 

Playboy's sex columnist would be a "sex-positive female," that the magazine will continue to focus on in-depth interviews and investigative journalism, and that the magazine will feature more artwork

 

 

This is a pretty interesting move to be honest so It'll be interesting to see if it works out for them.  There's always been the running joke about people "buying playboys for the articles" but from the few times I've encountered copies of Playboy, I was far more interested in the articles and editorials than the pictorials so I can't help but feel this move will make people feel less gross about buying that magazine without the stigma of buying it for the pornography.

[Mug]

Playboy's a relic of times gone by

[Aytex]

But... Wha...

[vanished]

I would say something like "well, it was nice while it lasted" and assume they will be bankrupt shortly, but actually this might make sense - I doubt many people were still using it in that way anyways

[Br3tt96]

Damn, now it'll be like them Maxim bastards.

[Textosterone]

Its ok kids, we still got the internet. And we also got @Aytex ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
 

[Rolling Potatoe]

As far as I know Playboy has been in decline for years (who still buys those, old people that dont know the internet?),

I guess its supposed its a last effort to get a stable market that before playboy inevitably goes the way of the dodo.

[GlassBomb]

It's an interesting move, to say the least. But I can understand where they are coming from with their decision. And to be honest? It's probably the right move. Time is always moving forward, and if you do not change over time, then you will be left off behind everyone else. The Bunnies, centerfold, and all of that might have been what helped Playboy gain its success. But now with internet, where you can gain similar content with a click of a button. Is there a point in having the nude around anymore?

 

I've read a couple of Playboy articles, and they can be interesting. Some might say that it's the wrong move, that Playboy was always about the nude models. But I applaud them for this, it's a brave move. And it should net them a more mature audience because of this.

[Mikjul]

Playboy is vintage... It's best years are long gone, Playboy to me is not even porn.

[techswede]

Meh.. When i found my dads porn stash when i was a kid the playboys were the least interesting ones anyway.

 

While we're on the topic of printed media slowly dying of, Am i the only one that still buys magazines (Not gentlemens special interest litterature but in general)

[Ellis_D]

I would say something like "well, it was nice while it lasted" and assume they will be bankrupt shortly, but actually this might make sense - I doubt many people were still using it in that way anyways

 

I'm thinking the biggest issue for the magazine is that print media in general is dying off so it's a compounded issue of both appealing to a different userbase while maintaining the inherently flawed distribution system of printed media.  It would make most sense to focus all their resources to their online sector.

[Knaj]

Makes sense.

 

We have the internet now, no need to magazines.

[Albatross]

So a porn mag ain't a porn mag?

 

This world is screwed on backwards.

[Ellis_D]

So a porn mag ain't a porn mag?

 

This world is screwed on backwards.

If you want to be pedantic, Playboy has always been a "Men's Interest" magazine that focused on Current Events, Politics, Fashion, Naked Women, Entertainment, and other general things that interest men, not a porno mag.  Kinda backwards that Playboy is betting on naked women no longer being a "Man's Interest" but I supposed it's a sign of the times.

[Misanthrope]

With all the photoshop they already use (and had used back when it was just "put so many filters you might as well just put grease on your lens") I wouldn't consider them "nude" as it was anyway.

 

More over, we've had this kind of "Sexy but not nude" magazines for years like H and such, so basically they're just becoming another one of those....how original.