The age-old excuse that men may have used that they were reading Playboy magazine solely "for the articles" is about to become a valid excuse, as the company has announced they would no longer publish nude photos beginning with the March 2016 issue.

In a statement, the company announced it is making the change in an effort to keep up with current times, and chose the new direction after seeing more positive responses to the website when it also switched to a format that didn't have a focus on nude photos.

"Last year we re-launced Playboy.com as a safe-for-work site and discovered something about our readers and our identity: The Bunny transcends nudity," the statement reads. "Tens of millions of readers come to our 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, style, nightlife, entertainment and video game sections. We are, and always have been, 'entertainment for men'--with award-winning journalism and fiction to boot. Playboy is a cultural arbiter of beauty, taste, opinion, humor and style."

The company also acknowledged that doing so is a risk.

Naturally, many have responded to the news with humor on social media, with several pointing out that now the excuse that they were reading it solely for "the articles" would be actual truth:

Others poked fun at how it mostly meant the magazine was losing what it had been so closely tied to for years, as well as the fact that the magazine still existed in a print version:

Where do you stand on Playboy's decision? Do you think it's a good idea or bad? Let us know in the poll below!

Is Playboy's Decision To Do Away With Nude Photos A Good Idea Or A Bad One?

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