I recently read about the new erotic magazine; Jacques, and it made me think about a quote by Peter Saville regarding the subject of erotic magazines:
“I’d like to redo Playboy magazine. I find it lamentable that there isn’t an intelligent, erotic magazine. There isn’t a magazine that was like Playboy was 30 years ago, and I find that’s dumb. Why isn’t there any intelligent, abstract eroticism?”
Whether Jacques is the new Playboy of the old 70’s I don’t know, because – unfortunately – I haven’t had a chance to study it yet. But what I do know from studying magazines with a similar focus is that erotic magazines are in a malign state. Their main competitor offers a better product, and free of charge that is. On top of that the covers of most magazines in the genre are so vulgar that I personally would find it embarrassing to purchase one without a trench-coat and a fake beard.
When examined closer on the inside it becomes obvious that they’re written by illiterate barbarians. Editions of Playboy from the 70’s had writers like Hunter S. Thompson, Vladimir Nabokov and Arthur C. Clarke, but now you have to come to terms with a guy that has a struggle trying to spell out c-u-m-s-h-o-t. It’s obvious that many erotic magazines are trying to deliver a fast product, in that they don’t go deep – literally speaking – but instead focus on poorly styled images and an expected quick read. I think they’ll have a hard time getting people to pay for that, as it’s available in moving format for free online, saving you that embarrassing – and expensive – purchase as well. And you don’t have to hide that hideous looking magazine either. You can simply clear your cache.
With the old playboys it’s something else. People put those in frames for god’s sake. One of my colleagues has a bunch of them on his desk at work for inspiration. With normal magazines in the genre you’d have them in the toilet for a different kind of inspiration. Now, I think the way to go for people with the chutzpah to take on the web competitors is to do like Jacques and S-Magazine, and focus more on intelligence – with interviews and articles – and on eroticism and not porn – with stylish images, and a cover that you’d feel comfortable having on your coffee table. A slowed down approach unlike what most erotic publishers take, where you’ll be considered a playboy because of your reading habits, instead of a perverted teenager.