Playboy CEO, Christie Hefner
by Elana Berkowitz (NA) , Contributing Writer
Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: News
Interested in moving towards a full, branded experience, Hefner pursued a partnership with the popular Palms casino in Las Vegas where Playboy opened up the popular Playboy Club that includes nouveau bunny uniforms created by fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. Hefner stated that they plan to open up high-end Playboy clubs in London and Macao next.
Moving onto the actual magazine, which Hefner says is still at the heart of an ever-expanding empire, she addressed the competition Playboy faced in recent years from other lad mags like FGM, Stuff, and Maxim. At the time, Playboy decided not to make radical changes in their editorial content in order to compete. Instead, she saw those magazines as a possible gateway to Playboy, given that she did not imagine that a man who read those magazines at 19 would still read them at age 29 or 39. When some audience members seemed skeptical of this claim, she joked, "Well, at least not some guy I'd want to have dinner with." Instead of cannibalizing Playboy readers, Hefner claimed that the lad mag audience consisted primarily of new readers who she generously and euphemistically described as "not print-oriented."
An audience member noted that, although the magazine continued to feature some great writing (I guess some people do read it for the articles, eh?), there has been a certain decline in Playboy's cultural relevance. The magazine had previously featured interviews with, or articles from, luminaries such as Alex Haley, Vladimir Nabokov, Ian Fleming, Salvador Dali, Bob Dylan, Princess Grace, Truman Capote and Miles Davis. In recent years, Playboy has had a harder time getting the same high-caliber notables to sit down with them for interviews. Hefner acknowledged this problem and said she blamed part of it on the increasing "gotcha" media culture that makes celebrities a bit gun-shy about having a freewheeling interview with an outlet like Playboy.
While the magazine is still softcore, the presentation largely glided past Playboy's 2006 acquisition of Club Jenna, making Playboy one of the largest producers of hardcore content. Despite the fact that this content seemed to be somewhat far from the "lifestyle brand" Playboy promotes, little mention was made over how the acquisition might impact their brand or might, perhaps, contradict their avowedly pro-women stance.
Moving onto the actual magazine, which Hefner says is still at the heart of an ever-expanding empire, she addressed the competition Playboy faced in recent years from other lad mags like FGM, Stuff, and Maxim. At the time, Playboy decided not to make radical changes in their editorial content in order to compete. Instead, she saw those magazines as a possible gateway to Playboy, given that she did not imagine that a man who read those magazines at 19 would still read them at age 29 or 39. When some audience members seemed skeptical of this claim, she joked, "Well, at least not some guy I'd want to have dinner with." Instead of cannibalizing Playboy readers, Hefner claimed that the lad mag audience consisted primarily of new readers who she generously and euphemistically described as "not print-oriented."
An audience member noted that, although the magazine continued to feature some great writing (I guess some people do read it for the articles, eh?), there has been a certain decline in Playboy's cultural relevance. The magazine had previously featured interviews with, or articles from, luminaries such as Alex Haley, Vladimir Nabokov, Ian Fleming, Salvador Dali, Bob Dylan, Princess Grace, Truman Capote and Miles Davis. In recent years, Playboy has had a harder time getting the same high-caliber notables to sit down with them for interviews. Hefner acknowledged this problem and said she blamed part of it on the increasing "gotcha" media culture that makes celebrities a bit gun-shy about having a freewheeling interview with an outlet like Playboy.
While the magazine is still softcore, the presentation largely glided past Playboy's 2006 acquisition of Club Jenna, making Playboy one of the largest producers of hardcore content. Despite the fact that this content seemed to be somewhat far from the "lifestyle brand" Playboy promotes, little mention was made over how the acquisition might impact their brand or might, perhaps, contradict their avowedly pro-women stance.
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jason
posted 3/02/08 @ 4:58 AM EST
I think its time to bring the playboy air freshener back.
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