How would you save Playboy? - Page 2

**eelcat** · October 26th, 2009, 04:57 PM

Could it be possible instead of making it raunchier to go the other way and cut out the bush all together and make it a more accessible magazine?
Ok you can have you celebs but how many celebrities are going to show bush anyway?
Anyway maybe the PB empire has come to an end. In it's day it was a trendsetter but is there any room today for a magazine that is virtually stuck in time?
Should they concentrate on other forms of media?

**DTravel** · October 26th, 2009, 05:36 PM

I think it may be too late to "save" the bunny. But if I were going to try:
1) Fire Christine (Hef's daughter, the one who's been actually running it for a couple decades now). Its supposed to be a MEN'S magazine, not a woman's mag.
2) Fire Christine again.
3) Go back to the "Girl Next Door" emphasis. Do not allow professional models to be centerfolds. If they already have a portfolio then they're ineligible. No problem if they go on to start a modeling career but much of the appeal of the original playmates was that they were regular women that you just might actually meet in everyday life.
4) Editing should be invisible. If the average guy can tell you've Photoshopped or airbrushed it then what's the point of even having a live model in the first place?
5) Style needs to be "middle ground". Not hard-core, close ups of genitalia solo porn but also not borderline abstract high couture woman as prop for art. If the photographer is focusing on "look what I can do with light and shadow and curves" instead of "look at this beautiful woman" then he's not doing the job right. The woman is not a prop, she is the whole point of the exercise.
5a) The point of having a celebrity pose for the magazine is to see her sexy and naked. NOT to give her an excuse to say "Oh, I was photographed by so-and-so, the great abstract art photographer".
6) Fire Christine.

In short, go back to the magazine's roots. Its possible that the times have passed the Bunny by and that can't work anymore but I don't believe it. I think there is a market for a magazine more mature in tone than Maxim/FHM/Stuff without being pornographic. Heck, take the photoshoots currently being done for Maxim/FHM/Stuff, just with less clothing and you'd basically be there picture-wise. You'd just need to aim the articles at adults rather than adolescents with ADD.

ellias · October 26th, 2009, 06:07 PM

My personal opinion is that Playboy had its day and that day has passed. I am older and my taste in women has not changed much from the days that I found my older brother's PBs hidden away in his lower clothes drawer back in the 60s. According to my tastes, PB comes up with an acceptable centerfold maybe once a year now if they're lucky. Their batting record was decent in the 90s with some very memorable girls like Marliece Andrada and Kimberley MacArthur. Look at the 3 or 4 girls that reside in the LA mansion now and are featured on that goofy E show. None of them can hold a candle to the girls of the 60s. Perhaps part of the problem is that they are actually allowed to speak on the TV show revealing how stupid they area. How can you compare beauties from the 60s like Rosemary Hillcrest, Reagan Wilson, Jo Collins, Cynthia Myers, June Cochran, Melinda Wilson to name a few. Even when they weren't big busted they still had something extra that their centerfolds don't have today. I've got nothing against implants as I've been to shows at strip clubs in the mid 90s featuring favorites like Traci Topps and Sarenna Lee. But why would PBs girls of today waste their time getting implants that get them up to a C cup? I think the tide began to turn when they stopped shooting girls with bare feet but pointed toes and started with the sequined high heels. And as far as the rest of the magazine goes, it is designed to look like a People magazine attempting to appeal to a younger college crowd that spends more time playing video games. If the magazine goes under there isn't much lost and its heritage will still continue thanks to the internet and PBs site. Other than being a ground breaker in the 50s, the psuedo-intellectual Hefner is pretty much of an embarrassment by any standard today. To think he's actually having intercourse with any of his idiots in the mansion, with or without Viagra, says a lot about these gold digger post-teenagers and the thought that their parents are condonning the activity is disgusting. Thanks for allowing me my rant. Whether the blog nazis allow it to remain is the question.

vik912 · October 26th, 2009, 06:39 PM

why should it be saved?

It was my dad'd magazine (never mine)

so it audience it dieing out

today it is only a trademark and marketing logo.

Let it die and stop crying about it.

Ellie · October 26th, 2009, 06:51 PM

^ The thread is just a bit of fun, Vik. None of us are actually going to save the thing, lol!

It's audience is dying out, maybe, but that just means it needs to recapture the audience. It either will or it wont.

This is just for fun, though, and for people to voice their likes and dislikes with the current magazine as it is.

xxXxx

**John C. Holmes** · October 26th, 2009, 08:20 PM

Since Christie FINALLY resigned under extreme fire from the shareholders early this year, (after 26 years of systematically destroying her daddy's empire,) here's my list of what I would do with the empire's many pieces:

Playboy lost it's way a LONG time ago. At this point I'm content to just let it go. The girls in the magazine come off as so classless at best and out and out skanky at worst that I don't see what sets them apart from low rent porn stars anymore. (See how Playmates behave on Playboy Radio for a reference.) That said, here's my thoughts on the state of the empire and what I'd keep and throw out:

1. Playboy Radio: EVERYONE thinks this is simply a black hole for money. Normally I would agree but with Sirrus and niche radio having the ability to make money I would reinvent PBR. No more sleazy "shock jock" fare and start playing music for the franchise's core remaining demo. (Men between 30-55.) Add some call in programs here and there like a sports show or a dating/advice show for men, (women corner the market on this right now unless it's porn but it's an untapped niche for men.) Much of Playboy's early years were spent supporting the jazz community. Smooth Jazz stations have definitely found a niche and mix well with adult contemporary in terms of formatting so why not try that?

2. PlayboyTV: Everytime I think about what Playboy Channel "could" have been I get tears in my eyes. Porn on tv is not only an oversaturated market but an obsolete one as well. The net is killing the porn industry as it is so why continue to beat this dead horse? Playboy has a huge advantage over the leading men's network, (Spike,) and they don't even know it. What they need to do is eliminate about 90% of the hardcore porn, start producing good quality softcore programming mixed with other non sex oriented guy fare like MMA, boxing, wrestling, car shows, gaming and what not and then bring back the Playmate Profiles and video centerfolds. Nudity has always been part of their FCC license and they could potentially corner the men's tv market due to this unfair advantage over Spike. (Like HBO has to the traditional networks.)

3. The teen swag lines: I'd unload them all. Dumb idea from the start and doesn't make enough money to justify it.

4. Night Clubs: There are only two Playboy Clubs from the glory years that mattered and they were in LA and Chicago. If you don't have Playboy Clubs in those 2 cities, don't bother having them at all. Fans will come to YOU ala Disneyland.

5. The Main Magazine: 100% monthly now and forever any subtraction is a death knell.

6. Newstand Specials: I have never actually bought one in my lifetime so I could care less. Most of them are redundant anyway so why do they need to many every month? Make each one, (Lingere, College Girls, Foriegn Girls, etc,) an annual and issue one every quarter and that's about it.

7. (The currently deceased,) DVD Line: Stop wasting time on Kendra workout videos that nobody bought anyway and go back to the video centerfolds, PMOY videos and I would maybe bring back the "Making Love" series. Either way I would find a way to make these work as it wasn't something that was broken in the first place.

8. The Website: Make it equal to the magazine and even a companion piece to subscribers. (Subscribe to the magazine and get the year of playboy.com for free.) Ultimately the website will eventually replace the main magazine so it's time to add more magazine features, expand the archives, (none of this "6 issues from the 60's crap, rerelease the whole damn archive,) and turn it into a one stop shop for all things Playboy from the tv network to the video line. (Nothing new, just a dejunkifying what is currently a mess of a website.)

The Playmates Themselves: NO MORE CELEBRITY SPREADS!!! At least for now anyway. Two things I do in addition to what has been mentioned by others in the thread so far:

1. Stop attracting only professional models: This may have been because of Dorothy Stratton or it may have been Christie's problem but somewhere along the line ordinary girls were phazed out of Playboy's recruiting practices. Maxim is kicking their ass in this department because they have an "open door" policy. Playboy needs to get back to their Girl Next Door roots.

2. CLASS: This is a problem I saw coming when Hef embraced heavy metal and it has become a full fledged AIDS virus when it comes to how the girls are presented and how they present themselves the day Hef embraced hip-hop. It is time for Playmates and models working for the Bunny to officially stop looking like strippers and porno stars. I'm sorry but since when is it classy to wear neon latex skirts and tubetops to the Oscars or other formal events? I saw the "Porn Star" issue from 2000 and the porn stars on the cover, (Tera Patrick and a few others,) looked classier than the girl in the centerfold that month, what is wrong with this picture?

Everything else would be automatic but it would take a Herculean effort to fix this mess. Could Richard Branson be the man to pull it off if he actually does buy the magazine? Maybe but even then it would take a miracle.

That's why I am prepared to let it go and enjoy the old issues and remember what Playboy WAS since what it IS is so painful to watch.

Ellie · October 26th, 2009, 08:40 PM

^ You should buy Playboy, John C. Holmes! Lol! If I could I would buy it for you

Fantastic post! What an interesting read, and I agree with everything 100%!

arseface666 · October 26th, 2009, 09:01 PM

The only time I have ever bought Playboy was for the celebrity photoshoots, so I'd have to say more of them.

**bawjaws** · October 26th, 2009, 09:18 PM

Frankly the sight of Hef fawning over girls young enough to be his great-grandaughter creeps me out

**goonerkev** · October 26th, 2009, 10:28 PM

I've never really been a fan of Playboy, and on the occasions I did look at it I thought it was overrated. I was more keen on Fiesta and Escort for their more down to earth style. Maybe the Readers Wives weren't all genuine, but at least they kept up that fantasy ...

October 26th, 2009, 05:36 PM	#12
DTravel Lean Mean Screencap Machine Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Better you don't know. Posts: 23,804 Thanks: 10,480 Thanked 207,285 Times in 23,710 Posts	I think it may be too late to "save" the bunny. But if I were going to try: 1) Fire Christine (Hef's daughter, the one who's been actually running it for a couple decades now). Its supposed to be a MEN'S magazine, not a woman's mag. 2) Fire Christine again. 3) Go back to the "Girl Next Door" emphasis. Do not allow professional models to be centerfolds. If they already have a portfolio then they're ineligible. No problem if they go on to start a modeling career but much of the appeal of the original playmates was that they were regular women that you just might actually meet in everyday life. 4) Editing should be invisible. If the average guy can tell you've Photoshopped or airbrushed it then what's the point of even having a live model in the first place? 5) Style needs to be "middle ground". Not hard-core, close ups of genitalia solo porn but also not borderline abstract high couture woman as prop for art. If the photographer is focusing on "look what I can do with light and shadow and curves" instead of "look at this beautiful woman" then he's not doing the job right. The woman is not a prop, she is the whole point of the exercise. 5a) The point of having a celebrity pose for the magazine is to see her sexy and naked. NOT to give her an excuse to say "Oh, I was photographed by so-and-so, the great abstract art photographer". 6) Fire Christine. In short, go back to the magazine's roots. Its possible that the times have passed the Bunny by and that can't work anymore but I don't believe it. I think there is a market for a magazine more mature in tone than Maxim/FHM/Stuff without being pornographic. Heck, take the photoshoots currently being done for Maxim/FHM/Stuff, just with less clothing and you'd basically be there picture-wise. You'd just need to aim the articles at adults rather than adolescents with ADD. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. I rage and weep for my country. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. I can reup screencaps, other material might have been lost.

October 26th, 2009, 06:51 PM	#15
Ellie Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: All over the place! Posts: 198 Thanks: 4,558 Thanked 7,874 Times in 181 Posts	^ The thread is just a bit of fun, Vik. None of us are actually going to save the thing, lol! It's audience is dying out, maybe, but that just means it needs to recapture the audience. It either will or it wont. This is just for fun, though, and for people to voice their likes and dislikes with the current magazine as it is. xxXxx __________________ ll WHO KILLED THE GIRL NEXT DOOR? ll “Outward beauty is not enough; to be attractive a woman must use words, wit, playfulness, sweet-talk, and laughter to transcend the gifts of Nature”

October 26th, 2009, 08:40 PM	#17
Ellie Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: All over the place! Posts: 198 Thanks: 4,558 Thanked 7,874 Times in 181 Posts	^ You should buy Playboy, John C. Holmes! Lol! If I could I would buy it for you Fantastic post! What an interesting read, and I agree with everything 100%! __________________ ll WHO KILLED THE GIRL NEXT DOOR? ll “Outward beauty is not enough; to be attractive a woman must use words, wit, playfulness, sweet-talk, and laughter to transcend the gifts of Nature”

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October 26th, 2009, 04:57 PM	#11
eelcat Vintage Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 660 Thanks: 2,389 Thanked 6,300 Times in 648 Posts	Could it be possible instead of making it raunchier to go the other way and cut out the bush all together and make it a more accessible magazine? Ok you can have you celebs but how many celebrities are going to show bush anyway? Anyway maybe the PB empire has come to an end. In it's day it was a trendsetter but is there any room today for a magazine that is virtually stuck in time? Should they concentrate on other forms of media?

October 26th, 2009, 06:07 PM	#13
ellias Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 354 Thanks: 6,473 Thanked 1,980 Times in 313 Posts	My personal opinion is that Playboy had its day and that day has passed. I am older and my taste in women has not changed much from the days that I found my older brother's PBs hidden away in his lower clothes drawer back in the 60s. According to my tastes, PB comes up with an acceptable centerfold maybe once a year now if they're lucky. Their batting record was decent in the 90s with some very memorable girls like Marliece Andrada and Kimberley MacArthur. Look at the 3 or 4 girls that reside in the LA mansion now and are featured on that goofy E show. None of them can hold a candle to the girls of the 60s. Perhaps part of the problem is that they are actually allowed to speak on the TV show revealing how stupid they area. How can you compare beauties from the 60s like Rosemary Hillcrest, Reagan Wilson, Jo Collins, Cynthia Myers, June Cochran, Melinda Wilson to name a few. Even when they weren't big busted they still had something extra that their centerfolds don't have today. I've got nothing against implants as I've been to shows at strip clubs in the mid 90s featuring favorites like Traci Topps and Sarenna Lee. But why would PBs girls of today waste their time getting implants that get them up to a C cup? I think the tide began to turn when they stopped shooting girls with bare feet but pointed toes and started with the sequined high heels. And as far as the rest of the magazine goes, it is designed to look like a People magazine attempting to appeal to a younger college crowd that spends more time playing video games. If the magazine goes under there isn't much lost and its heritage will still continue thanks to the internet and PBs site. Other than being a ground breaker in the 50s, the psuedo-intellectual Hefner is pretty much of an embarrassment by any standard today. To think he's actually having intercourse with any of his idiots in the mansion, with or without Viagra, says a lot about these gold digger post-teenagers and the thought that their parents are condonning the activity is disgusting. Thanks for allowing me my rant. Whether the blog nazis allow it to remain is the question.

October 26th, 2009, 06:39 PM	#14
vik912 Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 4 Thanked 21 Times in 2 Posts	why should it be saved? It was my dad'd magazine (never mine) so it audience it dieing out today it is only a trademark and marketing logo. Let it die and stop crying about it.

October 26th, 2009, 08:20 PM	#16
John C. Holmes Vintage Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 710 Thanks: 14,637 Thanked 7,446 Times in 682 Posts	Since Christie FINALLY resigned under extreme fire from the shareholders early this year, (after 26 years of systematically destroying her daddy's empire,) here's my list of what I would do with the empire's many pieces: Playboy lost it's way a LONG time ago. At this point I'm content to just let it go. The girls in the magazine come off as so classless at best and out and out skanky at worst that I don't see what sets them apart from low rent porn stars anymore. (See how Playmates behave on Playboy Radio for a reference.) That said, here's my thoughts on the state of the empire and what I'd keep and throw out: 1. Playboy Radio: EVERYONE thinks this is simply a black hole for money. Normally I would agree but with Sirrus and niche radio having the ability to make money I would reinvent PBR. No more sleazy "shock jock" fare and start playing music for the franchise's core remaining demo. (Men between 30-55.) Add some call in programs here and there like a sports show or a dating/advice show for men, (women corner the market on this right now unless it's porn but it's an untapped niche for men.) Much of Playboy's early years were spent supporting the jazz community. Smooth Jazz stations have definitely found a niche and mix well with adult contemporary in terms of formatting so why not try that? 2. PlayboyTV: Everytime I think about what Playboy Channel "could" have been I get tears in my eyes. Porn on tv is not only an oversaturated market but an obsolete one as well. The net is killing the porn industry as it is so why continue to beat this dead horse? Playboy has a huge advantage over the leading men's network, (Spike,) and they don't even know it. What they need to do is eliminate about 90% of the hardcore porn, start producing good quality softcore programming mixed with other non sex oriented guy fare like MMA, boxing, wrestling, car shows, gaming and what not and then bring back the Playmate Profiles and video centerfolds. Nudity has always been part of their FCC license and they could potentially corner the men's tv market due to this unfair advantage over Spike. (Like HBO has to the traditional networks.) 3. The teen swag lines: I'd unload them all. Dumb idea from the start and doesn't make enough money to justify it. 4. Night Clubs: There are only two Playboy Clubs from the glory years that mattered and they were in LA and Chicago. If you don't have Playboy Clubs in those 2 cities, don't bother having them at all. Fans will come to YOU ala Disneyland. 5. The Main Magazine: 100% monthly now and forever any subtraction is a death knell. 6. Newstand Specials: I have never actually bought one in my lifetime so I could care less. Most of them are redundant anyway so why do they need to many every month? Make each one, (Lingere, College Girls, Foriegn Girls, etc,) an annual and issue one every quarter and that's about it. 7. (The currently deceased,) DVD Line: Stop wasting time on Kendra workout videos that nobody bought anyway and go back to the video centerfolds, PMOY videos and I would maybe bring back the "Making Love" series. Either way I would find a way to make these work as it wasn't something that was broken in the first place. 8. The Website: Make it equal to the magazine and even a companion piece to subscribers. (Subscribe to the magazine and get the year of playboy.com for free.) Ultimately the website will eventually replace the main magazine so it's time to add more magazine features, expand the archives, (none of this "6 issues from the 60's crap, rerelease the whole damn archive,) and turn it into a one stop shop for all things Playboy from the tv network to the video line. (Nothing new, just a dejunkifying what is currently a mess of a website.) The Playmates Themselves: NO MORE CELEBRITY SPREADS!!! At least for now anyway. Two things I do in addition to what has been mentioned by others in the thread so far: 1. Stop attracting only professional models: This may have been because of Dorothy Stratton or it may have been Christie's problem but somewhere along the line ordinary girls were phazed out of Playboy's recruiting practices. Maxim is kicking their ass in this department because they have an "open door" policy. Playboy needs to get back to their Girl Next Door roots. 2. CLASS: This is a problem I saw coming when Hef embraced heavy metal and it has become a full fledged AIDS virus when it comes to how the girls are presented and how they present themselves the day Hef embraced hip-hop. It is time for Playmates and models working for the Bunny to officially stop looking like strippers and porno stars. I'm sorry but since when is it classy to wear neon latex skirts and tubetops to the Oscars or other formal events? I saw the "Porn Star" issue from 2000 and the porn stars on the cover, (Tera Patrick and a few others,) looked classier than the girl in the centerfold that month, what is wrong with this picture? Everything else would be automatic but it would take a Herculean effort to fix this mess. Could Richard Branson be the man to pull it off if he actually does buy the magazine? Maybe but even then it would take a miracle. That's why I am prepared to let it go and enjoy the old issues and remember what Playboy WAS since what it IS is so painful to watch.

October 26th, 2009, 09:01 PM	#18
arseface666 Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 75 Thanks: 120 Thanked 1,995 Times in 74 Posts	The only time I have ever bought Playboy was for the celebrity photoshoots, so I'd have to say more of them.

October 26th, 2009, 09:18 PM	#19
bawjaws Vintage Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 971 Thanks: 13,806 Thanked 12,964 Times in 957 Posts	Frankly the sight of Hef fawning over girls young enough to be his great-grandaughter creeps me out

October 26th, 2009, 10:28 PM	#20
goonerkev Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 822 Thanks: 614 Thanked 12,264 Times in 639 Posts	I've never really been a fan of Playboy, and on the occasions I did look at it I thought it was overrated. I was more keen on Fiesta and Escort for their more down to earth style. Maybe the Readers Wives weren't all genuine, but at least they kept up that fantasy ...