CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Just when you thought it was safe to pick up and read a copy of Playboy at the bookstore, the magazine is bringing back nude photos.
The decision comes only a year after Playboy banished the pictorials that made it famous in favor of photos of barely clothed women. It was an attempt at the time to skew the magazine younger as nude photos had seemingly become irrelevant in an age of readily available porn on the Internet. The first non-nude issue last February wasn't very subtle, featuring a scantily-clad Instagram model on its cover.
"I'll be the first to admit that the way in which the magazine portrayed nudity was dated, but removing it entirely was a mistake," Playboy CCO Cooper Hefner, son of Hugh, said on Twitter. "Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn't a problem. Today we're taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are."
The decision to remove nude models from its pages last year was made under former Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders, who left the magazine a few months later. The younger Hefner took over the magazine in October.
The change will be immediate, with the March/April 2017 issue featuring nude pics of March Playmate and cover model Elizabeth Elam and April Playmate, Nina Daniele. The issue, available February 28, also brings back the Party Jokes feature, but removes the words "Entertainment for Men" from the cover.
"Playboy will always be a lifestyle brand focused on men's interests, but as gender roles continue to evolve in society, so will we," Hefner said in a statement.
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