Perks of staying in? Playboy goes digital, Pornhub makes premium content free amid COVID-19 pandemic

After Pornhub making their premium content free for Italy, Spain and France, adult magazine Playboy has announced that they are shutting the US print edition and will be a digital-only publishing house for the rest of the year.

These decisions coming in amid the coronavirus pandemic look like desperate measures to convince people across the world to self-quarantine, stay in and practice social distancing.

In an open letter on Medium, Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, said that the Spring 2020 Issue, which will hit US newsstands week and will also be available for digital download, will be the final printed publication for this year in the US.

"We will move to a digital-first publishing schedule for all of our content including the Playboy Interview, 20Q, the Playboy Advisor and of course our Playmate pictorials," Kohn said.

"In 2021, alongside our digital content offerings and new consumer product launches, we will bring back fresh and innovative printed offerings in a variety of new forms–through special editions, partnerships with the most provocative creators, timely collections and much more," he explained.

Also Read: Pornhub is offering its premium subscriptions for free in Italy

According to the Playboy CEO, the company drove over $3 billion in annual consumer spend worldwide.

"We reach hundreds of millions of eyeballs every year, across all genders. We gained over 4 million new Instagram followers and saw over 50 per cent growth in engagement on our social channels in the past 6 months. We grew our digital video subscriptions by almost 30 per cent year-over-year and acquired a direct-to-consumer commerce operation that serves almost 1 million active customers every month," informed Kohn.

Playboy's decision to go digital for the year follows the news about Pornhub giving Italians, Spaniards and French free access to their premium subscription.

"Pornhub is donating its March proceeds from Modelhub to support Italy during this unfortunate time (model earnings will remain untouched). Italy will also have free access to Pornhub Premium throughout the month. Forza Italia, we love you!," tweeted Pornhub's Canadian parent company MindGeek.

"In light of expanding quarantines, we are extending Free Pornhub Premium for the month to our friends in [Spain and France!]," the company added.

(With agency inputs)