In a sign of what society has come to, Playboy has announced that it is phasing nudity out of its magazine at the beginning of 2016. It is all a part of the redesign the magazine is going through. The changes will be unveiled next March. The once pioneer of the provocative is now but a distant memory in this digital high tech world. The new agent provocateur? AARP, which has the two most subscribed to magazines. However, unlike with Playboy's in the 1950s, no one is complaining about AARP contributing to the moral decay of society.
It is an odd paradox for Playboy magazine and its publishers. The very cause they championed and battles fought have ultimately, it would seem, doomed it to eventual oblivion. Scott Flanders, the CEO of Playboy,reasoned it out to the New York Times, "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." Whether they will still be claiming victory when they are in the unemployment line, I guess, is another thing entirely.
At its height of 5.6 million subscribers in 1975, the magazine has seen its circulation plummet to 800,000. In that void stepped AARP. No, you won't be seeing "Naked Grandmas of Omaha" but what you will see is the changing of America's priorities. According to Business Insider, "The most popular magazine in circulation among the top 25 in the US was AARP the Magazine. AARP stands for "American Association of Retired Persons," an organization primarily focused on baby boomers. Its magazine had a total paid and verified circulation of 22.8 million as of 2014.The second-most circulated magazine is another AARP publication, boasting circulation of 22.2 million in the same year."
The generation that popularized the magazine has long since had other things on its mind and millennials are more interested in electronic toys.
Ultimately, Playboy's decision rests on one thing, market. Few and fewer stores are providing an outlet in which the adult magazines can be purchased. Playboy figures if it is to regain stable footing again it will need to get back into mainstream stores. And that means eliminating the bums. Too bad they picked the wrong ones
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