# Heff says: No more thread-bare hare **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518 "2015-10-13T03:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/1 "2015-10-13T03:58:22Z")
If you were wondering what to get Satan for Christmas this year, you might want to consider a pair of ice skates because Hell is freezing over. As of March 0f 2016, [Playboy Magazine will no longer feature naked ladies.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/business/media/nudes-are-old-news-at-playboy.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/2 "2015-10-13T04:08:48Z")
So, now we’ll find out who buys it just for the articles. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/3 "2015-10-13T04:19:01Z")
I guess printing 800,000 issues was getting difficult and they wanted to cut it down to a more manageable number. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/4 "2015-10-13T04:22:24Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So, now we’ll find out who buys it just for the articles. Why else would anyone buy it? I mean, who the hell pays money to look at pictures of naked women these days? If Playboy wants to turn itself into GQ or Esquire, then good for it. There’s certainly more money there than in printed porn. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/5 "2015-10-13T05:24:08Z")
I suspect that \*\*Little Nemo \*\*is not far off the mark even if he was intending to be sarcastic. The article I read suggested that the Playboy logo is one of the most recognised in the world. So they can keep monetising that, and I suspect doing so is the main game now. The magazine is just a tradition and a flagship and perhaps a loss leader, at this point. They don’t want to stop publishing it because that would detract from the brand, but they don’t really need it to be a focus any more. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/6 "2015-10-13T05:45:12Z")
I let my subscription drop when they started skipping issues. Coming out with a combined “June/July” issue is a clear sign of publishing incompetence. Good point, though, that nudes – even high-class “artistic” nudes – can be found in great volume, free, online. They still have some of the best cartoons in the world! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/7 "2015-10-13T06:06:09Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I suspect that \*\*Little Nemo \*\*is not far off the mark even if he was intending to be sarcastic. > > The article I read suggested that the Playboy logo is one of the most recognised in the world. So they can keep monetising that, and I suspect doing so is the main game now. > > The magazine is just a tradition and a flagship and perhaps a loss leader, at this point. They don’t want to stop publishing it because that would detract from the brand, but they don’t really need it to be a focus any more. I don’t think so, I think this is a move to genuinely save the magazine and turn it into a profit center. They’re getting rid of an obsolete business model and trying to redefine the magazine as a respectable literary publication, which would in theory expand their potential readership and advertising base. They always did try to provide quality literary content and had a fair degree of success doing so, partly because they paid lavishly. Unfortunately they’ve got serious competition in the respectable literary marketplace – the _New Yorker_ and the _Atlantic_, for instance. I don’t think anyone can touch the _New Yorker_ for editorial quality. Out of curiosity I looked up what was going on with _Penthouse_. The then-parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Then in August 2013 the new parent company was delisted from Nasdaq and Penthouse filed for bankruptcy the following month. AFAIK, the magazine is still being published but is more or less on life support. Naked women just ain’t what they used to be, it seems. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/8 "2015-10-13T06:31:06Z")
I wonder what that means for the Playboy web site? I was a member of the Playboy Cyber Club right after it opened in the nineties. They had moderated group chats with some of the playboy models. Archives of the centerfolds. I left after less than a year. Same thing with the Playboy channel. I had it for awhile in the late 80’s. Not much original content and I got tired of the repeats. The best thing they offered was a monthly video magazine. Had a lot of sports and extreme sport content. Bungee jumping, hang gliding etc. Also the video centerfold. Is that channel even available now? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/9 "2015-10-13T06:48:19Z")
I read about this. Well, good for them. I admit I haven’t read it in years, but for a long time, Playboy actually had a pretty good magazine in the vein of\* Esquire\*, underneath the skin rag trappings. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/10 "2015-10-13T07:49:08Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I read about this. Well, good for them. I admit I haven’t read it in years, but for a long time, Playboy actually had a pretty good magazine in the vein of\* Esquire\*, underneath the skin rag trappings. Yeah, I acquired a nearly complete collection of Playboy through the early 90’s (sans the Monroe issues) in trade. They take up a lot of space, but I’m loathe to get rid of them, and it’s not really because of the photo spreads. The writing and art is pretty great up through the 70’s. After that, it’s kind of hit or miss. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/11 "2015-10-13T11:38:56Z")
I never cared about Playboy except for the occasional newsworthy item, e.g., a specific starlet featured, or the Lennon interview. But damn, now I feel so old. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/12 "2015-10-13T11:43:43Z")
So… will there be centerfolds of clothed ladies? Will the other side of the Playboy Party Jokes Page feature the Likes and Dislikes of a stunningly-attired woman? Will they subcontract it out to Al Jaffee for his new feature, a complement to his Mad Fold-In, the Fold-Out? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/13 "2015-10-13T11:56:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > They always did try to provide quality literary content and had a fair degree of success doing so, partly because they paid lavishly. Unfortunately they’ve got serious competition in the respectable literary marketplace – the _New Yorker_ and the _Atlantic_, for instance. I don’t think anyone can touch the _New Yorker_ for editorial quality. Was going to say. Meanwhile _GQ_ and even _Vanity Fair_ have muscled in on the “lifestlyle magazine with ocassional celebrity pin-up pictorial” side. Real current (as opposed to decades-past-their-time) celebs these days prefer to do the 50-s style “nude but showing nothing” shootings which these mags will feature, and were the original Playboy’s bread and butter, but which in modern Playboy look lame. I wonder if they’ll still publish nudes in the “Special Editions”, which they have discontinued and restarted before. > [@](#): > > Out of curiosity I looked up what was going on with _Penthouse_. The then-parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Then in August 2013 the new parent company was delisted from Nasdaq and Penthouse filed for bankruptcy the following month. AFAIK, the magazine is still being published but is more or less on life support. Guccione tried to take Penthouse hard-hardcore in the late 90s-early 2000’s (\*&^% watersports in the Pet spread!). Bob lost the company on that gamble. Larry Flynt was occupying that niche since many years earlier and doing it right (i.e. already then moving into online video content). > [@](#): > > Naked women just ain’t what they used to be, it seems. 😉 You can have my nekkid wimmenz when you pry … no, wait, that doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/14 "2015-10-13T11:56:52Z")
From the OP’s cite: > [@](#): > > This time, as the magazine seeks to compete with younger outlets like Vice, Mr. Flanders said, it sought to answer a key question: “if you take nudity out, what’s left?” Didn’t _The Simpsons_ do an episode about what happens when Bart finds a set of Homer’s old _PlayDude_ magazines with the nude images cut out? Yep — "All’s Fair in Oven War\* Episode 337 Nov. 14, 2004: > **[All's Fair in Oven War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All%27s_Fair_in_Oven_War)** > > "All's Fair in Oven War" is the second episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 14, 2004. In the episode, Marge gets her kitchen remodeled and the dishes she makes inside it get rave reviews. The suggestion of Ned Flanders leads her to enter a cooking contest. However, Marge realizes the competition is harder than it seems. Meanwhile, Bart finds Homer's vintage Playdude magaz... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/15 "2015-10-13T12:27:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I wonder what that means for the Playboy web site? I was a member of the Playboy Cyber Club right after it opened in the nineties. They had moderated group chats with some of the playboy models. Archives of the centerfolds. I left after less than a year. > > Same thing with the Playboy channel. I had it for awhile in the late 80’s. Not much original content and I got tired of the repeats. The best thing they offered was a monthly video magazine. Had a lot of sports and extreme sport content. Bungee jumping, hang gliding etc. Also the video centerfold. Is that channel even available now? Tell me you own a smoking jacket. Please? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/16 "2015-10-13T13:27:16Z")
I see the Playboy Cyber Club closed last year. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy\_Cyber\_Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Cyber_Club) I’m quite surprised. It had a lot of great content. Especially considering it was 1995 and everyone was on a 56k modem. But I guess most ex-members (like me) only stayed a short time before losing interest. > [@](#): > > The Cyber Club site was closed on 18 October 2014 and the subdomain [cyber.playboy.com](http://cyber.playboy.com) was shut down. Some of the site’s content was transferred to the Playboy Plus premium site but not all. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/17 "2015-10-13T13:38:44Z")
It can be an interesting magazine without the naked chicks, but aren’t magazines going away with the rest of print media? Is there any more point to Playboy at all? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/18 "2015-10-13T13:39:24Z")
Is this a sign of the apocalypse or what? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/19 "2015-10-13T13:52:39Z")
I remember thinking that it was a sign that I was getting old when I realized that I was actually reading _Playboy_ through, front to back, rather than flipping to the pictures. I had turned into a “for the articles” guy. What does this all mean for the Femlin? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518/20 "2015-10-13T14:00:51Z")
Eh, I only masturbate to the articles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heff-says-no-more-thread-bare-hare/734518.md?page=2)