Playboy to stop publishing Nudes...

Huh? What? Say it ain't so, Hef!!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/playboy-to-drop-nudity-as-internet-fills-demand/ar-AAfnWTw?li=BBgzzfc

As of March 2016, the famed skin mag will be printing far less skin. In what seems like a backwards response to competition from wall to wall (and free) Internet smut, Playboy will still feature "provocatively posed" women in their photo spreads but they'll no longer be fully nude.

I guess from then on, guys who claim that they "only read it for the articles" will be telling the truth.

Maybe they think they'll pick up some younger (early/mid teens) readers who previously were not old enough to legally purchase the "dirty" version of the mag? Tho if that's the demographic they're banking on, then ole Hef must be even more out of touch than I thought.

(Mr. Burns voice) "Eh? Circulation's dropped again due to this inter-web you speak of? Pish, tosh! We'll turn those young rapscallions into new readers by dropping free copies of our periodical from the air! Quick, Smithers, to the dirigible!"

I just saw this on the news. They said the website already had undergone this change. The anchor asked the reporter what was on the website now and one of the things he mentioned was a ranking of pumpkin beers you'll actually like. Naturally I had to go look. Schlafy's is third!

Cutting edge in the 50s and utterly tame in the 21st century. No big deal really. Horn-dogs will continue to look at internet porn.

I think the last time I bought a Playboy was like 1988 or something.

Quote :

Cutting edge in the 50s and utterly tame in the 21st century.

Oddly enough I'm in the middle of reading a biography of Hugh Hefner and it's been quite interesting to read the stories about how much resistance Playboy encountered over the years, esp. during the 50s and 60s - boycotts, protests, attempts at censorship, bans, etc.

...but like you said, what was considered "shocking" back then wouldn't even raise an eyebrow now.

One thing I always appreciated (yes, even as a horndog teen) was the way the Playboy models "looked". The photography was always excellent and what the photography couldn't hide, airbrushing did. Unlike Hustler where every mole and zit was on full display.

Playboy was always more "artistic" than either Penthouse or Hustler. A little classier, a little more upscale, very much plugged into the urban jet-set ethos of the 50s/60s. I remember my Mother would occasionally buy a copy when there was an interview she wanted to read. They printed a lot of great short stories in the 70s as well, I believe some of Stephen King's first published stories were in Playboy.

S.D. wrote:

Playboy was always more "artistic" than either Penthouse or Hustler.  A little classier, a little more upscale, very much plugged into the urban jet-set ethos of the 50s/60s.  I remember my Mother would occasionally buy a copy when there was an interview she wanted to read.  They printed a lot of great short stories in the 70s as well, I believe some of Stephen King's first published stories were in Playboy.  

Yes some of the first stories Stephen King sold was to Playboy.

I heard the Playboy Mansion was being sold off at auction. It was obvious in today's age where this was going. I never cared for or read Playboy. I was always more into Weekly World News as far as trashy publications go. Much more relevant and insightful.

From the sound of it, the "new" Playboy will be similar to so-called "lad mags" like Maxim, FHM, etc. -- which are slightly "risque" but you don't have to be 18 to buy it.

I doubt that will stop the bleeding though cuz even the "lad mag" niche looks comatose these days. The barber shop I have frequented for years always has an issue or two of Maxim hanging around its waiting area and over the years I've noticed that mag has gotten progressively smaller.

Playboy (or any other nudie magazine) can only survive in this day and age by paying for celebrity nude shots. If they have the money and connections to do so, they can pull it off. Regardless, there are far better articles to be found on internet websites anyway.

Come to think of it, I'm surprised that PETA didn't give Playboy more flack, considering all the blatant displays of compromised meat that were shown.

I was a bit surprised, and like most peps my age, I had a few Playboys stashed under my bed. I have not read or looked at a Playboy, I am surprised it has survived this long.

I'm not surprised. Magazines all over the world are dying and in this day and age with easy access to porn who would buy a magazine for half-nude women?
I actually always was under the impression that most people indeed bought Playboy for the articles and interviews and not to look at those semi-nude women because if you were after that, you'd buy porn magazines which at least here in Germany were widely available everywhere (for some reason magazine stores here in Munich had that habbit of putting video game magazines right next to the porn magazines)

I read earlier today that not all of Playboy's foreign editions will be following the Home Office's no-nudity lead next year.

Supposedly the office of the Mexican edition in particular was flooded with calls from concerned readers when the news broke about the change (it seems that printed media is still a pretty big deal in Mexico, because fewer people have access to the internet), but they were reassured that the Mexican Playboy will continue with business as usual.

So I guess this means that in the near future, guys will be telling their wives, "But honey, I read Mexican Playboy... ummmmm, for the articles...in Spanish! Yeeeeahhhh, that's the ticket! I'm trying to learn a new language! (cough cough)"

Oh, and Hustler publisher Larry Flynt has chimed in by saying "I knew Hef was old but I didn't know he had lost his mind."

S.D. wrote:

Playboy was always more "artistic" than either Penthouse or Hustler.  A little classier, a little more upscale, very much plugged into the urban jet-set ethos of the 50s/60s.  I remember my Mother would occasionally buy a copy when there was an interview she wanted to read.  They printed a lot of great short stories in the 70s as well, I believe some of Stephen King's first published stories were in Playboy.  

I wouldn't consider Playboy to be pornography, for what it's worth. Hustler and Penthouse, though, for sure.

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I wouldn't consider Playboy to be pornography, for what it's worth.

Most people don't...but to your average crusading conservative middle American types, Playboy is pornography, simply because it has naked chicks in it.

They don't care that nude pix account for probably less than ten percent of each issue of Playboy and the other ninety was stuff about cars, politics, martinis, travel, men's fashions, etc. As far as they're concerned, there were boobies in it, therefore it was porn.

There's an old joke that goes something like, "I can't define what pornography is... I just know it when I see it."

Required Fields wrote:

I wouldn't consider Playboy to be pornography, for what it's worth. Hustler and Penthouse, though, for sure.

Wrong. See Rotten.com and for video, Faces of Death. To call Hustler and Penthouse pornography is like saying that Mother Teresa was the Son of Sam.

That guy Heffner - reminds me of Trump !
I cant believe he invited Motley Crue over - in 1984 -
and they had to be removed - from the mansion - 3 days later -
HUSTLER was tha mag to get Penthouse - OUI -
Kids have it so easy now with the internet - damn - what the hell -
remember when in the late 70's I had to bribe the store clerk

Belongs to another time, let it go Heff!

So they'll become like Maxim and drop off most likely. I couldn't even tell you the last time I bought a Playboy.

So hey, if anybody here wins that billion dollar PowerBall jackpot this week, here's a hot deal for ya: The 29 acre Playboy Mansion property is up for sale -- for $200 million (!!)

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/playboy-mansion-sale-hugh-hefner-stay-put-36209697

Part of the deal is that Hef gets to continue living in the Mansion after it's sold, presumably till he croaks....which, if you've seen any recent pictures of the man, probably won't be long now anyway....

In a weird semi-related note, long-time nuddie mag rival Penthouse is going to a digital-only format...

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/01/penthouse_magazine_closing_ending_publication.html

No more print magazines. Millions of septuagenarian voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

In a weird semi-related note, long-time nuddie mag rival Penthouse is going to a digital-only format...

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/01/penthouse_magazine_closing_ending_publication.html

No more print magazines. Millions of septuagenarian voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

That's been a long time coming. The late Bob Guccione had to sell off all of the Penthouse trademarks/properties during bankruptcy proceedings in the early 00's. If memory serves, the company that bought everything was already a major playa in the digital-XXX world, but they wanted the Penthouse name for branding/prestige purposes. I'm sure that keeping the magazines afloat was not a high priority for them.

I watched a pretty cool documentary about Guccione's life a few months back ("Filthy Gorgeous," on Netflix) and it was quite a story. I felt kinda sorry for Bob by the end of it. Just like Hef, he was the product of a different era and he couldn't keep up with the changing times.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

In a weird semi-related note, long-time nuddie mag rival Penthouse is going to a digital-only format...

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/01/penthouse_magazine_closing_ending_publication.html

No more print magazines. Millions of septuagenarian voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Awesome way to sneak a Star Wars quote in there!