Playboy magazine going PG-13.

[Some Guy]

End of an long era.  No more nudes.

Playboy becomes PG-13.

SG

[Rob C]

End of an long era.  No more nudes.

Playboy becomes PG-13.

SG

Maybe it'll save them.

I had it on sub from the 60s to early/mid 70s, at which time I thought I detected a deterioration: they appeared to imagine themselves in competition with Penthouse, which I would never have bought.

I used to leave Playboy lying around the house and felt perfectly happy for my son and daughter to look at it if they wanted to - which I don't think they ever did; then, it started to to get iffy (imo) and I thought nope, if it makes me wonder about the kids, time to fly. So I quit.

Lot's of folks who never ever handled the magazine used to mock when people claimed they bought it for the articles. They were mistaken: the writing was from excellent, big-time writers, journalists. The weakest link? The centrefold: over produced and the forerunner to the mess that's today's sterile digital retouching.

How it goes.

Rob C

[Telecaster]

The only issue of Playboy I've ever bought had an interview with the science fiction writer Frank Herbert along with an excerpt from his then up-coming novel God Emperor of Dune. Must be 30 years ago or more…

My cousin Douglas owned, back in the 1970s, a cottage in the Georgian Bay area of Ontario (Canada). My folks & I used to spend a week or so up there every summer. Anyway Douglas kept a stash of Playboys in his bedroom, which happened to be where I slept during our stays.    Besides the pics I discovered other good fiction and loads of music, book & film reviews.

-Dave-

[Rob C]

There was a very long-running series of essays called The Playboy Philosophy that caused quite a fuss in the day... HH was/is? a fairly good writer and he was able to hold interest. To a non-American, it was rather startling to discover how doing one thing, legally, with your wife in State A could get you jailed if you did it in State B. It put me in mind of my m¡serable time in boarding school, a prison school run by missionaries. I think becoming a fashion/calendar photographer was my tiny act of vengeance.

The magazine used to feature Vargas (pin-up painter) as well as a 'modern art' maestro whose name I can't recollect at this time of night. The only thing that felt (to UK eyes) a bit flat was the male fashion: trousers too short, shoes too heavy... oddly enough Hollywood seemed to get it right far better! I think Playboy fashions sometimes tried to ape what was going down in Carnaby Street during those 'Swinging London' days, which was impossible - it was in a state of perpetual change whilst it lasted - hardly possible to copy. Also, it didn't fit the American image, Not in the days of the Beach Boys, at any rate!

Rob C

[jjj]

I thought this was an amusing comment about the change...

"The target audience, Mr. Flanders said, is young men who live in cities. “The difference between us and Vice,” he said, “is that we’re going after the guy with a job.” "

I also noticed in article that the magazine loses $3million a year, despite selling a fairly decent 800,000 copies a month!! Is that because they actually pay their photographers a decent amount?

[Rob C]

I thought this was an amusing comment about the change...

"The target audience, Mr. Flanders said, is young men who live in cities. “The difference between us and Vice,” he said, “is that we’re going after the guy with a job.” "

I also noticed in article that the magazine loses $3million a year, despite selling a fairly decent 800,000 copies a month!! Is that because they actually pay their photographers a decent amount?

No, it's because they pay their models an indecent amount of money.

;-)

Rob C

[GrahamBy]

A friend has just had some of her writing and photography accepted for the Romanian edition of Playboy. In that country, it's still reasonably prestigious since it's one of the few publications that pays reasonably, so pretty much all of the good current Romanian artists have been published in it, which maintains its reputation as a good place to publish: a virtuous cycle.

Going away from the Penthouse style seems a good idea, but going PG13 ? It sounds worryingly like a triumph of the new prudery that we have on Fesse-bouc, where you can post decapitation videos but get banned for exposing nipples... 

[Otto Phocus]

I also noticed in article that the magazine loses $3million a year, despite selling a fairly decent 800,000 copies a month!! Is that because they actually pay their photographers a decent amount?

Or they pay their post processors a lot of money! 

[jjj]

No, it's because they pay their models an indecent amount of money.

Or they pay their post processors a lot of money! 

Both probably more likely than the photographers.

[BernardLanguillier]

Pretty puzzling to me.

Why would a magazine with such a tradition limit its artistic freedom by self imposing constraints along the axis of nudity??? Free porn is all over the web, how is nudity even relevant these days?

Cheers,
Bernard

[Rob C]

Pretty puzzling to me.

Why would a magazine with such a tradition limit its artistic freedom by self imposing constraints along the axis of nudity??? Free porn is all over the web, how is nudity even relevant these days?

Cheers,
Bernard

I think it may really be simply a matter of economic reality. The guy looking for horney pictures doesn't need to shell out anything anymore. That was a bit of writing on the Mansion wall a long time ago - and perhaps part of the reason they got into the video and tv worlds. The Casinos seemed to hit a lot of problems - I believe both politically as well as, again, economically. Heff gave up the reins to his daughter, and time itself moved on.

Maybe the only route back to the golden era will be by reverting to where it started: a 'gentleman's' guide to the arts, gracious living and interesting essays on money, literature and so forth...

I sometimes think that the era of magazines is past; then like yesterday, I drop into a better newsagent's and the walls are full of magazine. But, they don't look as good. They don't really look like objects of desire. In fact, it's similar to wandering around a car museum and then looking out into the street, the magazine racks of now being the street. Only the museum holds magic. Maybe just like memory...

Rob C

[Telecaster]

Why would a magazine with such a tradition limit its artistic freedom by self imposing constraints along the axis of nudity??? Free porn is all over the web, how is nudity even relevant these days?

My guess is it's more about broadcasting a "Look, we're not a sleazy porn rag!" message than about actually banning nudity. PG-13 films can contain some nudity, BTW, but its acceptability is dependent on context.

IMO it's important to understand just how weird US attitudes toward nudity, and sexuality, are compared to most other "Western" countries. Commercial porn is widely accessible…but it's cartoon sex. Actors posing and playing roles. Most amateur porn, amusingly, has adopted the same approach. About the last thing you'll ever see is people in genuine relationships having authentic sex. The freakout over and pushback against widespread availability of this kind of porn would likely be formidable. Puritanism along with its accompanying "sex is sinful and offensive" prudery still has a strong hold over the nation's psyche. So you can compartmentalize sex, especially if that involves denigrating it as porn often does, but openly and healthily dealing with it is a different (and highly fraught) thing entirely.

-Dave-

[Alan Klein]

I read their website went PG13 a while back and has grown from 4 million to 16 million in the young age group.  That's a really interesting thing.  Why is that I wonder?  What are they doing without their usually stuff that so attracts an audience today?  No wonder they're changing the magazine, but why is the audience changing it's habits and what are they looking for?

[jjj]

Quite a few authors I have read, when they wrote about how they got started and such like talked about what a big thing it was to be even considered by, let alone be published by Playboy.
So my impression of Playboy growing up was more about being a place for showcasing good writing, than it was showing women's boobs.

[Robert Roaldi]

I read their website went PG13 a while back and has grown from 4 million to 16 million in the young age group.  That's a really interesting thing.  Why is that I wonder?  What are they doing without their usually stuff that so attracts an audience today?  No wonder they're changing the magazine, but why is the audience changing it's habits and what are they looking for?

I heard a radio interview about that yesterday. Readers would be prevented from forwarding or linking to FB or other social media from a nude-Playboy site article. So no matter how interesting an article was, those sites would reject links about it on the basis of the host's nude content. Presumably, growing that part of their profile was important to Playboy, so they abandoned the skin. As others have said, you can see all manner of skin anywhere for free now, time to move on, I guess.

[jjj]

I heard a radio interview about that yesterday. Readers would be prevented from forwarding or linking to FB or other social media from a nude-Playboy site article. So no matter how interesting an article was, those sites would reject links about it on the basis of the host's nude content. Presumably, growing that part of their profile was important to Playboy, so they abandoned the skin. As others have said, you can see all manner of skin anywhere for free now, time to move on, I guess.

Ah, that's interesting. Didn't realise FB did that. Obviously the pictures of pussys that I share are not the kind FB disapprove of. So never had links blocked.

[Otto Phocus]

I am having a hard time remembering the last time I have read a playboy magazine.

If this move keeps them in business, best of luck to them.

But it was the articles that made Playboy of the the better magazines of the genre.

Are the current articles of the same quality as the articles back in the 60-70's?

[Rob C]

I am having a hard time remembering the last time I have read a playboy magazine.

If this move keeps them in business, best of luck to them.

But it was the articles that made Playboy of the the better magazines of the genre.

Are the current articles of the same quality as the articles back in the 60-70's?

I abandoned the cottontailed ship mid-70s; haven't read a copy since then.

I would imagine (with nothing to base this upon!) that the allure for top-drawer writers might well have departed. I think much depended upon the personality of HH himself, and the interaction with his contemporaries in the various arts worlds. Do today's writers feel any kudos from Playboy association? Isn't it perhaps counterproductive for them? And don't forget, the man at the spiritual helm is pretty old these days, none of which helps very much. Age may sometimes make one more experienced, but that doesn't always equate with attraction.

Rob C

[jjj]

I would imagine (with nothing to base this upon!) that the allure for top-drawer writers might well have departed. I think much depended upon the personality of HH himself, and the interaction with his contemporaries in the various arts worlds.

I gather one of the big draws for writers was that it paid very well. Plus it had a big circulation.

[Otto Phocus]

I wonder if Playboy will continue after HH goes to the big mansion in the sky?