On Tuesday October 3, Playboy announced they will no longer publish completely nude photos of women in their print publication. This is a furthering the famous magazine's move away from nudity: the company had decided to not allow nudity on its website in August 2014.
So what does such a big, drastic change away from its original purpose mean for a magazine known for being risqué?
Well, it could mean a lot of things. There are a lot of different views and opinions of Playboy. Some see it as demeaning to women, and this move is a win for them. Of course there are those who support and consume the magazine that will be disappointed. Surely the decision to step away from completely nude photos wasn't an easy choice, since that is what Playboy has built its brand on. But it's 2015, and with how advanced the internet is these days, there are more and better options — which doesn't put the magazine at the top as it once was.
Yahoo Finance wrote, "It will become more like Esquire and other magazines with PG-13-type pictures." It's funny to imagine Playboy being anything like Esquire, or anything other than what it is known for.
The switch to no completely nude photos will begin in March. Though there won't be full nudes, women will still be in provocative poses.
It's a bold move for Playboy to pretty much completely rebrand its image. But it could be a very smart move as well. Dropping nude images from its website worked, so it'll likely work for the print publication. According to The New York Times, 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," when it stopped posting nude photos.
Focusing on the editorial will help the company better keep up with the times and what readers want. It's a competitive market, and also one where many publications are fighting to stay alive. It's good that Playboy finally woke up and realized it's 2015 and no one really needs pictures of naked women anymore. Maybe now they have a chance of being a more respectable publication.
It'll be interesting to see what will happen when March rolls around and the new and improved Playboy rolls out. Will it be everything it claims it will be?
Maybe Playboy has finally realized less is more.
