On Oct. 13, 2015, Playboy Enterprises (Playboy) issued a statement announcing that photos of nude women will no longer be featured in the magazine. Beginning with its March 2016 issue, the magazine will continue featuring sexualized photos of women, but forgo the nude centerfolds that have been a staple of the magazine since its debut.
When reached for comment by the New York Times, Playboy CEO Scott Flanders was quoted as saying, “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free…It’s just passé.”
With its first issue appearing in 1953, with Marilyn Monroe on the cover, Playboy caused a stir with its initial publication. The magazine served as a precursor to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and, over the years, Playboy’s soft-core pornography, in combination with journalism from world-class writers like Norman Mailer and Hunter S. Thompson, allowed the publication to grow into the pre-eminent men’s magazine of its time. However, the rise of magazines like Penthouse, which featured even more explicit content, in addition to the rise of internet pornography, lead Playboy to eventually lose its edge in a changing social climate.
With the omission of nude photos, Playboy now seems to want to distance itself from its smuttier peers in order to move from the back to the front magazine row. Various cultural commentators have said that the omission of the centerfold is an attempt for the magazine to switch to a slightly different market. The new Playboy will be more like FHM than Hustler, as the company moves into the new terrain of the lad’s mag.
Many individuals formerly involved with Playboy have backed the decision from an entrepreneurial perspective. Hugh Hefner, the magazine’s now 89-year old founder and former editor-in-chief, was the one to originally approve the idea, while former contributor David Rensin praised the move as one that Playboy should have made years ago. “It’s a good business move,” said Rensin in an interview with the Associated Press. “The magazine’s got to keep up with the times.”