Playboy models no longer nude

Quote: rxwine

Perhaps they didn't actually buy the magazine.

Hmmmmmm. My mind drifts to 'Film star' Shannon Tweed. Apparently she was in Penthouse. :)

Anyway, talking of who actually buys such magazines: Back in the day, nobody admitted to buying them: It was always 'I found it at work and brought it home to dispose of, so no youngster could stumble upon it.'

Yeah. Whatever. $:o)

When I was a kid, probably about 7-9 years old we had stopped at a roadside convenience store (probably Stuckeys). I went over to the magazine rack to look at magazines, and pulled one up from the back. I flipped it open and there was a 2 page drawing of a beach scene with all naked women. I took it over to my mom to ask her about it. All I remember is she grabbed it from me, said nothing about it, and took it back to the rack. I'm pretty sure I made a few attempts to ask her about it, but she ignored me.

Quote: rxwine

drawing of a beach scene with all naked women.

Drawing. lol. Oh happy days. Life was so innocent then.

In the early days of t'interweb, it used to take several minutes to download a still image at 300baud, 9600baud and wow 14,400baud.
Later with 56k modems, it was a few hours for a short video clip. Now... Just select the right internet powered tv channel at the flick of a remote... or do some nifty thumb twiddling on your phone.

So I'm told.

They say space exploration, moon landings and the odd war, advanced science and civilisation.
Pah! It was the need to access smut that drove progress. Without smut, t'interweb would be nothing. Do you think the home hologram market with feelifax (tm) 3d sensory experience will be driven by nerds? Nope. It will be driven by smut peddlers and consumers.

Erotic magazines.... They've had their time, just like erotic drawings and cave wall drawings before them.

If Penthouse can't dominate internet TV 'erotica', it's missed the boat... and it has missed the boat big time.

Quote: OnceDear

They say space exploration, moon landings and the odd war, advanced science and civilisation.
Pah! It was the need to access smut that drove progress. Without smut, t'interweb would be nothing. Do you think the home hologram market with feelifax (tm) 3d sensory experience will be driven by nerds? Nope. It will be driven by smut peddlers and consumers.

There is some truth to that. Same as porn helped VHS win the format war. If the porn execs ran GM we would not know what a Toyota is.

I'm sure I've said this before, but Playboy is a victim of it's own success. For decades, it was the only respectable magazine with naked women, that the average man wasn't embarrassed to buy. Nobody ever really read it for the articles, let's be honest. Just having articles made it seem intellectual and safe. Now you can find whatever you want for free so easily online there is no longer a need for Playboy. It had a great run, but it's now a buggy whip in an era of cars. I could see the brand still having some value, but we can start writing the obituary for the magazine.

Quote: Wizard

I'm sure I've said this before, but Playboy is a victim of it's own success. For decades, it was the only respectable magazine with naked women, that the average man wasn't embarrassed to buy. Nobody ever really read it for the articles, let's be honest. Just having articles made it seem intellectual and safe. Now you can find whatever you want for free so easily online there is no longer a need for Playboy. It had a great run, but it's now a buggy whip in an era of cars. I could see the brand still having some value, but we can start writing the obituary for the magazine.

You make a good point. I also feel that with the death of Hugh Hefner, that was officially Playboy's admittance to Hospice so to speak.

Quote: Wizard

I'm sure I've said this before, but Playboy is a victim of it's own success. For decades, it was the only respectable magazine with naked women, that the average man wasn't embarrassed to buy. Nobody ever really read it for the articles, let's be honest. Just having articles made it seem intellectual and safe. Now you can find whatever you want for free so easily online there is no longer a need for Playboy. It had a great run, but it's now a buggy whip in an era of cars. I could see the brand still having some value, but we can start writing the obituary for the magazine.

If the article is true to form the mag is already dead. Sort of like when Chrysler revived the Imperial in the mid-1980s. A glorious car in the 1960s, the 1980s was just a stretched K Platform with some fancy features. The current mag has no connections to the old. It looks to be truing to be PC Porn.

I say the two related questions are "do they need the mag to keep the brand?" and "Does a pathetic mag destroy the brand?"

Quote: AZDuffman

I say the two related questions are "do they need the mag to keep the brand?" and "Does a pathetic mag destroy the brand?"

My answers would be "no" and "maybe." Ditching the magazine would send a message that the company is no longer stuck in the 1970's and focusing on whatever makes them money today (to be honest, I'm not sure what that is).

Quote: Wizard

My answers would be "no" and "maybe." Ditching the magazine would send a message that the company is no longer stuck in the 1970's and focusing on whatever makes them money today (to be honest, I'm not sure what that is).

To answer the second, the rabbit-head is, or was, a strong logo. It can be put on many things. Clothing already. Could see a line of men's products like aftershave or cologne. Whiskey? It still has that rat-pack feel and vibe.

But just for now. With what they have and are doing to the magazine, I don't see the brand value staying. The kind of guys that buy the brand do not want to associate with a PC mag. I am hoping everyone noticed that the new mag is "ad free." So to me that is the real way of saying it is the end. Just no way you get enough revenue from cover sales.

I would guess magazines in general are on the decline, but I have to say the magazine rack in the grocery store looks about the same. (The main one, not the register ones)

I know I don’t buy them like I use to though.