In news that’s somehow both progressive and kind of backwards, ‘Playboy‘ is bringing back nude models after a year long, self-imposed ban.
Looking to appeal to more mainstream advertisers and audiences, ‘Playboy’ had only been portraying women in near-nude outfits and through strategically hidden nudity since March 2016. This apparently permitted the magazine a higher visibility across newsstands, while also creating a plunge in subscription sales.
But with the release of their upcoming cover, titled “Naked is normal“, the company has made clear that they will return to naked models while maintaining a more progressive photography style.
The news follows the promotion of Cooper Hefner, the son of founder Hugh Hefner, to Chief Creative Officer in October 2016. Cooper has been outspoken in his criticisms of the ban, and tweeted his pretty nuanced reasoning on Monday:
“I’ll be the first to admit the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake.”“Nudity was never the problem, because nudity isn’t a problem. Today, we’re taking our identity back and rediscovering who we are.”
The March 2017 issue will reportedly display both breasts and butts, but not full frontal nudity that proceeded the original ban.
And while this all kind of feels like a ‘New Coke/Shapes‘-style publicity stunt, it’s still good to see a nudie magazine eschew both exploitation and censorship, instead opting for celebration.
And if you’ve seen #NakedIsNormal trending, it’s because ‘Playboy’ counted down to the cover reveal with some hilariously, blatantly censored nudity:
5 #NakedIsNormal #PabloPicasso pic.twitter.com/fB0PbUBjCO
— Playboy (@Playboy) February 8, 2017
3 #NakedIsNormal #AdamandEve pic.twitter.com/0fp50IFTnH
— Playboy (@Playboy) February 10, 2017
1 #NakedIsNormal #MarilynMonroe pic.twitter.com/f2friYmlPL
— Playboy (@Playboy) February 12, 2017
Our March/April 2017 cover #NakedIsNormal https://t.co/FhCkcmnV0S pic.twitter.com/WSxMElDa94
— Playboy (@Playboy) February 13, 2017
Finally, the banning and subsequent unbanning of nudity has not affected ‘Playgirl,’ which is owned by a different company and by all accounts has been publishing the peen since 1973.
Source: News.com.
Photo: Playboy.
