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Playboy hits the big five zero

Posted by Paul Miller at 4:47pm on Thursday, 29th May 2003

The LA times is running an editorial today hooked on the fact that Playboy Magazine is about to reach the grand old age of 50.

It comes across as a fairly glowing endorsement of Hefner's empire... which made me wonder about the differences in the way porn is viewed stateside, in Europe and in the UK. What do we reckon?

Click here for the article (registration required).


Comments

1
Although the public face of Playboy undoubtedly still belongs to Hugh Hefner (scientists are so grateful for the publicity he's given to rabbits that there's even a breed named after him - Lapis Hefneris!)the more interesting fact is that the whole empire is now run by his daughter - Christie Hefner. And she's by no means unique... The UK chain Anne Summers is run by Jacqueline Gold,and the upmarket erotica outfit Myla is run by two female entrepreneurs. The difference is that while Anne Summers and Myla explictly provide female sex products (lingerie, toys etc.) Playboy is still unashamedly catering to a male market, even with a woman at the helm. So is it strange for a father to pass on his porn empire to his daughter and has it made a difference to the way Playboy does business? Although still red-hot in Asian markets, North American and European sales of the magazine has fallen dramatically in recent years, forcing Playboy to diversify. Bunny Clubs were revived (albeit disasterously), rights to the logo were sold to just about anyone, and the company is exploring the possibility of opening resorts (a la Hedonism in Jamaica). But still no major forays into the growing and lucrative markets of female consumers. So have Playboy missed a trick or is it a shrewd move by Christie to preserve her company's unique selling point?
Posted by Lydia Howland  at 8:29pm on Thursday, 29th May 2003
2
I'll vote for the preserving of the company's unique selling point, for the integrity of having remained politically incorrect and the integrity of having more centerfolds who've moved on to become senior execs than all the other mags combined, and who've had more memorable interviews (which neuropsych tells us is the effect of balancing good content with sex: Asimov, Bucky Fuller ... I can still picture those centerfolds ;)
Posted by mrG mrG  at 1:44pm on Friday, 30th May 2003

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