European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Publisher Hugh Hefner at a sunny reunion tasty egr at if Playboy club in los Angela will video make men s magazines passe by Thomas b. Rosentiel los Angeles times la boy Art director Tom Staebler thumbed Galley proofs of his Magazine past miss november and a feature on men s skin care products and mused Over recent problems caused by the religious right in Wile More Ihan a year fundamentalists have persuaded an estimated 17,000 stoics to drop Playboy and us Mam t Val Penthouse. Irom heir Magazine Racks. In pail because of thai loss. Playboy Cut advertising rates by 17 percent in july and announced the loss of close to 700.000 in circulation " honestly Don l think these people have looked at our Magazine recently Staebler said. That say Magazine Industry analysts is the Paradox of the recent assault by fundamentalists on american men s magazines the attacks come As Staebler and his colleagues ate trying to Laka Somo of the son out of Hugh Hefner s Magazine but not because of a new wave at righteousness. Men s magazines Are changing because they lace an even Grealer threat irom a shrinking target audience of Young men and a growing american preference for watching More explicit sex on Cable and video. Playboy la competing by getting softer trying to reposition i soft As a competitor to Esquire and gentleman s quarterly at the same time its Parent company. Playboy enterprises is moving More heavily into video cassettes. Penthouse is countering 6y becoming More explicit and by diversifying into everything irom Selling powdered milk in the Arab work to publishing a Magazine aimed Al a filary officers Aboul biological warfare the technological age of video Hustle Magazine publisher Larry Flynn declared Wilt make men s magazines passe " these Are indeed hard limes in the skin Trade Page 16 the stars and stripes Playboy circulation has shrivelled from nearly 7 million in 1972 to just 34 million this year. Penthouse Loo has fallen from to 2.7 million from its heyday in 1978 of 4.5 million. And Hustler has tumbled 1