It’s official; Sex does not sell!
To be more precise, naked girls in Playboy magazine do not sell, which is why in the upcoming year the people in charge of the monthly journal are changing their 63 year-old format from naked women to scantily clad women.
The change of format is a radical move if only in the sense that the 63 year-old brand is changing its defining policy. I am supposing that this will be the real test to see who is actually buying the magazine to read the articles and who is just making the purchase to ogle the naked girls and the fully exposed centerfold. While we are on the topic of centerfolds it’s pretty amazing how many well-known actresses and models actually posed for Playboy. From Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield to Ellie McPherson and Kim Basinger, Raquel Welch, Robin Givens, Denise Richards, Drew Barrymore, Darryl Hannah, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Farrah Fawcett and the list goes on. Kim Kardashian posed for the magazine and is probably as good of an example as any as to why the executive decision was made to start publishing a more demure format.
So Who’s to Blame?
The blame is placed squarely on the Internet. Cyberspace has made it extremely difficult for any legitimate magazine to capitalize on nudity when everything and everyone in — any variety of undress and compromising positions — can be found for free with a mere couple of key strokes on their computer or mobile device. Kim Kardashian’s naked ass is not only blowing up the Internet, but is also destroying the whole philosophy of a venerable and successful magazine. To be fair, Playboy magazine was there in the 60’s at the forefront of the sexual revolution — albeit with a much glossier version of the revolution.
Playboy magazine was also present and accounted for during the Supreme Court hearings regarding obscenity, and by default became a strong backer and champion of freedom of speech and the First Amendment. While nudity and sexuality were definitely the lure of the publication, there were a slew of brilliant writers that appeared in the magazine as well. Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Margret Atwood, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ian Fleming, Ray Bradbury and Norman Mailer are a few of the authors that were sandwiched in between the naked women to appeal to those who only bought the magazine for the articles. In 1962, Miles Davis became the first in a long line of amazing Playboy interviews that ran the gamut from Martin Luther King, The Beatles and Malcolm X to Bob Dylan, Jimmie Carter and Fidel Castro along with anyone else of note. Music is also held in high regard and well promoted by the magazine as showcased by 37 years of the Playboy Jazz Festival, which has hosted some of the foremost innovators of the genre at the annual concert in Los Angeles.
Hugh Hefner, the founder and publisher of Playboy magazine, says he was creating what he considered to be the handbook for the urban male. Given the societal and technological atmosphere at the time, Hef may have been right. However, the new millennium has given rise not only to a generation of people not only far removed from the mindset of the last century, but to a completely different technological landscape as well.
What was once considered provocative is now somewhat quaint, considering that any celebrity nudity and every imaginable sex act — sometimes being one and the same — are all a mere Google stop on the Internet freeway.
Sex does not sell magazines! As an interesting aside, Playboy hit its peak in 1975, with 5.6 million subscribers; today it is a mere 800,000. On the other hand, the number one magazine today, with a circulation of 22.8 million, is AARP, which stands for “American Association of Retired Persons.” Interestingly enough, the Baby Boomers that once subscribed to Playboy are probably the same “Urban Males” who made up the 5.6 million Playboy magazine subscription holders. An Urban Male who was 25 or 30 during Playboy magazine’s heyday is now 65 or 70, and while the urge for intimacy does not abate, priorities do change. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the 89-year-old Hugh Hefner — who is definitely of the age to be a card-carrying AARP member — decided that subtlety and nuance might be a better selling point than blatant nakedness. Even though he tries to maintain his studly “playboy” demeanor by keeping a bevy of beautiful blondes by his side, it is only natural for people to change, grow and redefine their thoughts or beliefs in search of deeper meaning.
Just so the issue is not confused I would like to make it clear that the reformatting of the Playboy mission is not really a great concern of mine, nor was I ever a subscriber (except for the articles), but I do tend to make correlations between what I do and the world I view around me. Playboy’s intention to cover up its models piqued my interest, and then — during my research travels — I stumbled upon the AARP revelation. In a holistic way, the decline of the one magazine giving rise to the other makes perfect sense, considering the demographics. In view of the fact that I reside somewhere in the murk of the said AARP populace, I began to think about how I have transformed during my sojourn in this corporal plane and how I have applied the changes to the things I do.
Oh Yeah, the Audio Connection…
When a musician matures, they often find that the need for speed and the playing of a plethora notes can be refined into playing the right part with fewer notes and with the aforementioned subtlety and nuance. As engineers, the materials we work with have evolved as the technology has grown. The maturation as an audio mixer usually means we trade sheer volume and in-your-face sound for a more refined mix, with shades of tone and timbre that satisfy in the quality and depth of the mix. Effects and EQ are used more sparingly. Fewer speakers are required to reach more people. Delayed speakers are used to provide more clarity rather than a higher dB reading.
At best, our egos are corralled and tamed as we learn to focus our attention on what’s important in a mix — and not just getting the best kick drum sound. While the relationship between the sound world and Playboy’s corporate decision to promote a more modest image might seem like a stretch, in my feverish imagination, the Playboy decision mirrors the audio world perfectly. The mixes of the new millennium now have the raw nakedness of youthful folly being replaced by the understated potency of a lifetime of understanding and wisdom.
Yup, that’s the ticket. “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll” are passé and, in the beginning of our new millennium, sex does not sell!
