As indicated by the company last fall, the March 2016 issue will no longer contain images of fully nude women, though that hardly means the centerfolds are any less steamy.

The new issue shows women in provocative poses, snapping pictures as if they were taking selfies on Snapchat, a social media site which launched on the premise of letting users send messages that disappear after a few seconds.

The cover features social media star Sarah McDaniel, who leans toward the camera provocatively with the words "heyyy ;)" written over the shot.

The new look is meant to create a more "intimate experience" for the reader, Playboy said in a statement.

"The idea was to look at me from a boyfriend’s perspective," McDaniel said in a statement.

Playboy tweeted a picture of McDaniel on Thursday with the caption, "Say hello to a new era."

In October, the magazine announced its plans to cover up its centerfolds as part of a redesign aimed at attracting millennials.

With the Snapchat style pictures in the new issue, Playboy is aiming to meet their target audience on the social media platforms they prefer while tapping into sexting culture.

The March issue also features photos of model Myla Dalbesio, which she took of herself.

While the new issue does include naked women, they are posing "strategically" to avoid revealing full-on nudity the magazine embraced in the past, The New York Times reported.

The onslaught of Internet pornography made the nude images in Playboy of the past "passé," Scott Flanders, the company's chief executive, told the Times in October.

"That battle has been fought and won," Flanders told the newspaper. "You're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free."

The new look is similar to Playboy's digital strategy over the last few years. In 2013, the Playboy app was touted as a more work-friendly version of the magazine with "best articles" and non-nude images. Likewise, a 2015 app implemented the same strategy with a mobile-first focus on the magazine's written content.

When Playboy.com re-launched sans nudity in 2015, the publication said in a statement that "tens of millions of readers" continued to come to the "non-nude website and app every month for, yes, photos of beautiful women, but also for articles and videos from our humor, sex and culture ... sections."

(usatoday.com)

Related articles :

Playboy 'to drop' naked women images