Penthouse To Run Photos Of Sex Act

After years of teasing readers with erotic images of the human anatomy in every conceivable position and some that most people couldn’t possibly conceive Penthouse is going all the way.

The July issue depicts two people engaged in sex, traditionally taboo for mainstream magazines, even those dealing in skin. According to Penthouse, the couple are married performance artists.

Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione said he thought “the time was right” for such explicit images.

But analysts say the magazine is showing how desperate it is for readers. Circulation for magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse has plummeted in recent years.

“You don’t need these magazines now to get that sort of thing,” said Steven Cohn, editor of Media Industry Newsletter, which covers the magazine and newspaper businesses. “There’s the Internet, videos, pay-per-view, cable.