changes

Mark Tomlonson tomlonson@wmich.edu
Wed, 16 Apr 2003 16:31:28 -0400


Dan Stiffler wrote:

>1.  Improve the quality of reproduction.  
>
>2.  Emphasize the photographers.  
>
>3.  Use the history.  
>
>8.  Promote the playmate.  
>
>C)  This might be my most radical--and reluctant--suggestion, but I know the
>concept is on the table anyway, so I am going to address it: kill explicit
>nudity in the magazine.  
>
One element of Playboy's history that I think it will be forced to carry 
into it's future is the nudity. It has always been what has set it 
apart. There were thoughful essays published in magazines all the time 
Playboy did, but Playboy had the naked women. Without naked women, 
Playboy would be Maxim or Esquire by another name.

If Dan means going back to the standard of nudity that Playboy had in 
the early Seventies, then I agree with him that this may be a good 
avenue for Playboy to explore. If he means the type of nudity in an "Oil 
of Olay" ad, then we part company.

If there are no nudes, why increase the reproduction quality? Or 
emphasize the photographers? There are several top-flight art magazines 
that fill that role. Without nudes, how can the history be used? Why 
promote the Playmate?

> 7.  Stand for something again.  

I think Playboy will be more successful by standing for its founding 
idea that sex is not something to isolate, whether to the back rooms or 
to a members-only URL. Discussions of sex and the presentation of female 
nudity in a sophisticated setting has been Playboy's claim to fame.

The opposite of sophistication in this context is the "Girls Gone Wild" 
type of video. I enjoy that kind of video, in small doses, but I don't 
think it's compatible in the same setting as the other goals Dan 
iterated. Playboy has strayed from that sophistication several times in 
history. The papparazzi shots of Uma Thurman are a rcent example that 
comes close to mind.

Maybe PEI should be publishing a non-nude version of Playboy. I don't 
think that it should say "Playboy" on the cover.

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI