Following the decision by Playboy to remove full nudity from their print magazine with immediate effect, the head honchos at rival publications Penthouse and Hustler have criticised and mocked the move.
After Playboy took the decision as a result of nudity becoming ‘passe’ according to them, Hustler creator Larry Flynt described the move as a “bad business decision” and an act of “desperation” according to AVN.
Meanwhile, Penthouse’s managing director Kelly Holland said the move was “brand suicide”, also adding that nudity had not been passe for “200,000 years”.
While I agree with both of them to a certain degree, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s brand suicide. I’m not even sure just how much money the magazine makes for Hugh Hefner these days, but I’m willing to bet it’s considerably less than the vast array of merchandise out there, and their large network of websites.
