Playboy got a lot of press a while back when they announced they would no longer be featuring nudes in the magazine. Some people praised them, some criticized, and many more simply ignored it as uninteresting in a time when intern porn is so copious as to be almost boring.
Here’s what bothers me about it: I hate when organizations choose to stop instead of improve. I know there are plenty of reasons for the decisions (magazine sales in China sounds like the most plausible excuse) but a part of me wishes they had taken another direction instead.
If you want to stand out in a crowded market, do it better. For years Playboy featured some of the most notable photographers in the world. Mixed in with good writing, decent journalism, and some beautiful advertising, the magazine occasionally looked nearly as classy as they pretended to be. But the main work, the photographs they featured every month, just got worse and worse. Not only did the airbrushing make the images feel less real, but the quality simply got bad.
So, instead of banishing their nude photos with claims of “we can’t compete with porn” why not just do it better? They’ve featured Herb Ritts, Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, and Richard Avedon in the past, and there are just as many, if not more, brilliant photographers today taking actual sexy photos. There are artists turning out work that is compelling, boundary pushing, and beautiful. Why not use them? Why not introduce us to new artists and new models? Why not simply try harder?
It’s a shame Playboy decided to become like everyone else instead of asking what the next step might look like. It’s a shame they decided to water themselves down instead of stepping up and taking a risk.