ESPN the Magazine Body Issue Is Issue Brilliant Marketing or Just Tasteless?

Let's bust out the cultural stethoscope, and take the temperature of the upcoming ESPN the Magazine Body Issue. 

We are a culture that is still very much rooted in Puritanical sensibilities. It is the very reason that we giggle at Kiss Cams and scoff at people that may be too liberal with their sensuality. 

On Friday, ESPN will release its third installment of the Body Issue. At the very core, it is a bunch of pictures of naked athletes. 

Yet it has driven a great deal of discussion. The photos are always done with the utmost care and quality. Private parts are covered, and there really is a beautiful art about it all. 

That is exactly what ESPN is hoping that you take away from the magazine. It is supposed to be a celebration of the athletic form. 

Some with their feet dug into more conservative views may see the magazine as a means to get athletes to drop their clothes to sell some magazine issues. 

The truth may lie somewhere in between. Now, I couldn't care less if athletes get the naked treatment. I am as curious to see the goods as the next person. 

However, the Body Issue is far more closely tied to a marketing venture than anything else. What drives sales of movies, music and magazines? Sex. 

There is no argument that sex would be the most popular entity the world has ever known. Sports Illustrated found that it could be a money driver when, in the lean months, they chose to photograph some of the hottest women in the world in nothing more than bikinis. 

Decades later, ESPN the Magazine wants in on the cash cow. I think that there is a great deal that can be gleaned from the naked athlete. Seeing pictures from past issues is far more Natural Geographic than it is ever Playboy. 

There is something very journalistic in the magazine's approach. It is very much a study into the athletic body. But this is no philanthropic endeavor. 

This issue will feature some of the biggest names in sports. The "it" girl of the moment, Hope Solo, will be a big part of the end sales. 

If you are trying to find an answer to what the issue is, well, it's just brilliant marketing, and there is nothing wrong with that.