One would think that the only reason Playboy still exists today is because horny guys that prefer print over online contributes a ton to the magazine. But beginning March next year, Playboy will no longer publish photographs of fully nude women.
The New York Times say the magazine's best selling issue was in November 1972. It sold seven million copies. But now..
Playboy’s circulation has dropped from 5.6 million in 1975 to about 800,000 now, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. Many of the magazines that followed it have disappeared. Though detailed figures are not kept for adult magazines, many of those that remain exist in severely diminished form, available mostly in specialist stores. Penthouse, perhaps the most famous Playboy competitor, responded to the threat from digital pornography by turning even more explicit. It never recovered.
Previous efforts to revamp Playboy, as recently as three years ago, have never quite stuck. And those who have accused it of exploiting women are unlikely to be assuaged by a modest cover-up. But, according to its own research, Playboy’s logo is one of the most recognizable in the world, along with those of Apple and Nike.
So how would their readership change after that? It also turns out, Playboy has already stopped publishing nudes on its website in August of last year too.
Is this a new era for adult magazines?