No nudity please, we're Playboy
Really? Are my eyes deceiving me? When I was growing up, Playboy was the 'gentleman's' jazz mag.
It was still top shelf material, but if you were ever lucky enough to get your hands on one as a teenager, it was surprisingly full of words. There were more articles than pictures, features about vintage motor cars or guides on how best to tie the perfect cravat.
It had its fair share of nudity too. But let's just say it was slightly more tastefully done than a Fiesta or a Razzle.
The weird thing about pornographic magazines was, and still is I guess, you never actually see anyone reading one in public. Unless you're unlucky enough to share an easyJet flight to Tallinn with a group of drunk men on a stag do.
Maybe attitudes have softened over the years. The Internet now reigns supreme of course. Porn on demand is at your fingertips. Or as Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders told the New York Times "you’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free."
Hence Playboy's move is all the more fascinating.
What does it do when naked images have been commoditised, and are available on t'internet for free? Gets its models to put their clothes back on of course, less flesh, is clearly more. Flanders simply believes nudity is 'passé' these days. He may be right. As a result its pictures are going to be far more discreet and tasteful.
The New York Times, who were sent an advance copy, explain: "There are still naked women in this newly demure version of the magazine. It’s just that they have been shot in ways intended for strategic concealment."
It sounds more like the Calendar Girls, but means the new look Playboy magazine is only rated PG-13, and will be delivered to newsstands without a polybag wrap for the first time since 1985.
I love the idea that the most iconic porn mag on the planet is going to be more prudish from now on.
Thirty years ago it was still shocking and a taboo. Now don't be surprised if you see the gentleman's magazine being openly browsed in public places.