End Of An Era: Playboy Will No Longer Print Photos Of Nude Women

Marking the end of an era, Playboy has announced it will no longer publish fully nude photos of women inside the pages of its magazine.

In an interview with The New York Times, Scott Flanders, Playboy's chief executive, said the magazine came to the decision with its 89-year-old founder Hugh Hefner, because the Internet has made nudity "passé."

Flanders said,

That battle has been fought and won. You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it's just passé at this juncture.

While it may seem like an American institution is dying, killing nudes may actually be the only thing to save the magazine.

As The New York Times reports, Playboy's circulation has dropped from 5.6 million in 1975 to about 800,000 today. The American magazine is no longer profitable and only exists as a marketing tool for the brand.

Beyond no longer publishing nude photos, the magazine will also feature a new sex column written by a “sex-positive female," expanded liquor coverage and more visual art.

This isn't the company's first step into becoming more mainstream. As Flanders noted in his interview, the magazine's website content has long been safe for work to meet sharing guidelines on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

So what will keep the brand unique among the crowded media market?

Flanders said,

The difference between us and Vice, is that we're going after the guy with a job.

But as Corey Jones, one of Playboy's top editors, noted, it wasn't an easy decision. He told The Times,

Don't get me wrong, 12-year-old me is very disappointed in current me. But it's the right thing to do.

Look for the latest iteration of Playboy to hit newsstands in March.

Citations: Nudes Are Old News at Playboy (The New York Times)