A 1950's Playboy centerfold could be quite tame by todays standards.
The very first issue of Playboy, put together in HH's kitchen in the fall of 1953, sold 70,000 newsstand copies - more than double today's newsstand sales, and in 1953 it was an unknown, unlike today. So, how far Playboy has fallen.
The peak sales were Sept. 1972, when it sold 7 million copies per issue.
The one thing Playboy always had going for it was the centerfold - properly speaking, a true American original. Now they want to get rid of that, thinking it will make Playboy more "acceptable" to buyers.
That's a big assumption, especially if the articles continue to be crap - every issue, it seems, Playboy tries to relate to millionaires, not average guys - endless articles about clothes, cars and gadgets that the average guy can never afford, articles about exotic locations that are unaffordable, etc. Then there's the standard leftist-Dem-Party talking points that always get parroted - Republicans are evil, anti-women, etc.
If Playboy intends to survive on articles alone, they need a major attitude adjustment. And stop using irrelevant, uninteresting idiots (Jonah Hill, Al Franken, etc.) for the interviews (which at one time were good).
The onsie coffee cup guy, Sheldon Whitehouse, and the cheese & mac kid will love it!
There's already GQ for that.
The print version of Playboy will be gone within 5 years. Probably much sooner.
A 1950's Playboy centerfold could be quite tame by todays standards.
Ah, the “new coke” of the dirty mag world. Watch what happens. Just like coke they will have an epiphany and go back to all nude. Wait and see, it’s all about long term marketing. Just my 2 cent.
No one ever bought the magazine for the centerfold....ever.
I can remember the barracks days when we would discuss the various periodicals around and Playboy was read strictly for advice on stereo equipment, men’s fashion, and oddball interviews. In thirty years, nothing has changed.
There are simply 700,000 guys in America who want to project themselves as ‘playboys’ (some image out of the 1970s)....and they think the advice and commentary out of the magazine will help to mold them into such.
There are also a a lot of articles on the Internet.
I don't think that "running nude photos" of women is even one of the top 100 reasons that Playboy isn't attracting advertisers. (But pretending that it is will at least get the executives a few more years of bonus checks.)
thanks for the stats- i still like looking at gorgeous women with no clothes despite this...
The print media, as a whole, is largely dead. It should be no surprise that girlie magazines are circling the drain with them. In fact, it’s about the only place that still has “Miss....” as the honorees.
They are as yesterday as poodle skirts and Corvairs.
well pictures of nude celebs are all over the Internet,cloths and celebs don’t mix these days
What do they think people buy it for? The articles?
If they think the millions of testosterone-crazed young males bought or stole Playboy for the articles, they're sadly misinformed. Even though their circulation has supposedly dipped to under a million subscribers, I doubt they buy it for the articles.
It was my introduction to naked breasts at an early age.
Instead of doing what they did uniquely well, they turned into effite snobs (thanks Spiro). They present themselves now as social and philosophical leaders to the pseudo intellectuals in college as wells as urban metro sexuals.
Way to destroy an empire guys!!
Let’s see...
1) No nekkid pictures of gorgeous young ladies; and
2) All articles by lieberal bliss-ninnies.
I don’t think so.
Playboy’s attorneys would be well advised to begin the preparations for bankruptcy.
Now that Playboy has turned the rest of the country into a cesspool, they are climbing out of the muck. Liberals.