As the old joke your dad probably used to say had it: “Playboy? I read it for the articles.” Thanks to the newly-released Playboy NOW app you really can just surf for the articles as the brand have made their technological foray non-nude and totally SFW. Are we in fact heading for the apocalypse?

Erm well no, not exactly. Playboy’s covering up of their new app has more to do with competing in the cut-throat viral content market than it does anything sex or nudity-based. Playboy pulled a similar stunt in August 2014 when its flagship website went much the same way.

It also serves the 80% of visitors who click on Playboy from their mobiles, and will strip – ironically – articles from the main site of any NSFW content before they are uploaded to the app.

As The Times of India highlights, the language of Playboy’s articles has shifted to encapsulate the Must Read Semantics of the digital age. The most recent topics have included “East Jesus is the Last Hippie Haven in America”; “What ‘8 Minutes’ Got Wrong About Sex Workers”; “We Drank the World’s 5 Weirdest Beers”; “Spare Parts from the Playboy Garage: Porsche 911”; and “YouTuber Lauren Francesca Shows Us All Her Personalities.”

Playboy’s lurch into new modes and diversification comes as everybody and their dog realizes that Playboy’s original USP is about as unique as pigeons. Bouyed by over six decades of fame and recognition, it will be interesting to see how Playboy compete in the brave new world.