Naked women are back on ‘Playboy’, magazine calls the self-imposed ban a ‘mistake’

Experts say that though Playboy had shed its nudity image, they will always have the stereotype of being a nude magazine

By: News Desk |
February 14, 2017 11:50 am

After a year when Playboy decided to exercise a self-imposed ban on publishing the pictures of naked women in the magazine, it revoked the call saying that the decision was a mistake. Bringing back ‘nudity’ which made the magazine famous, the magazine celebrated its decision with the hashtag #NakedIsNormal.

The 63-year-old magazine had stopped publishing pictures of naked women in its print edition so as to portray an image of mass appeal. It had also felt that the nudity in print had become outdated at a time when online porn is just a click away on personal computers and smartphones.

Our March/April 2017 cover #NakedIsNormal https://t.co/FhCkcmnV0S pic.twitter.com/WSxMElDa94

— Playboy (@Playboy) February 13, 2017

The reversal of the decision came with the launch of the magazine’s March-April issue.

“Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn’t a problem. Today we’re taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are,” Cooper Hefner, Playboy’s chief creative officer and the son of magazine founder Hugh Hefner said.

pic.twitter.com/sL1nSF6fYC

— Cooper Hefner (@cooperhefner) February 13, 2017

Experts say that though the magazine had shed its nudity image, the image did not disassociate itself from the magazine. “Playboy and the idea of non-nudity is sort of an oxymoron. They are always going to have the stereotype as a nude magazine,” said Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi.

“The people who grew up with Playboy magazine are starting to fade away so they will have to figure out what the millennial generation wants in the 21st century if they are going to survive,” Husni said.

However, just bringing back nudity won’t add to the sales of the magazine. It will have to figure out how to appeal to a younger audience and appeal to those who are living in a digitally driven age where nudity has become commonplace.

#NakedIsNormal Playboy is back with a bang, Isn’t it great or what!!! pic.twitter.com/yb5RiapnKh

— Thomas V (@ThomasV000) February 14, 2017