Playboy wants to make a major comeback, complete with bunny ears and sensual photography. But this time, they are dismantling their old brand of eroticism and stepping into a new era.
After years of its relevance fading away, the magazine is giving a makeover to the very elements that made it famous in the first place: Playmates and Bunnies.
Highlights
- Playboy is attempting a major comeback by reviving its iconic Playmates and Bunnies with a modern twist.
- Cara Delevingne made history as the first out lesbian to appear on the print cover of Playboy.
- The brand is repositioning itself as a platform for “artfulness” and “thoughtfulness” behind their sensual imagery.
- As part of their renewed approach, Playmates and cover stars can choose how much of their body they want to show.
Its new formula included putting openly gay model and actress Cara Delevingne on the cover.
Playboy wants to make a major comeback with a new take on their iconic bunny ears and sensual photography
Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
Today, when consumers can find explicit content with just one click, Playboy is still trying to compete and find its place in the pop culture landscape.
Phillip Picardi, Playboy’s editor-in-chief and chief brand officer, insisted that the magazine has always been different from p***ography.
And rebranding the magazine with “artfulness” and “thoughtfulness to [the] n*d*ty” was the challenge.
Image credits: pfpicardi/Instagram
“There’s always been a difference between Playboy and p**n, especially the kinds of p**n that are really prevalent today and that people have access to just by having a Twitter account or a Reddit account,” Picardi told Press Gazette, as quoted by the New York Post.
“So I actually found the challenge of bringing back an artfulness and a thoughtfulness to n*d*ty to be super exciting as a creative,” he added.
At a time when consumers can find explicit content with just one click, Playboy is still trying to compete and find its place in the pop culture landscape
Image credits: Luke Ford
Playboy, founded by the notorious Hugh Hefner, started off as a provocative men’s magazine in 1953.
After Hefner was denied an extra $5 to his salary as an Esquire copywriter, he went on his own quest and raised $7,000 as well as an extra $1,000. He then put together the magazine’s first issue.
The selling point was clear at the time: pictures of scantily-clad Marilyn Monroe.
Image credits: Playboy
Playboy thus became an instant hit, selling around 54,000 copies.
As more issues came out, readers flocked to buy the magazine for its famous topless centerfolds and celebrity interviews.
Image credits: Bettmann/Getty Images
Playboy became one of the most influential magazines with time, and by the 1970s, an estimated one-fourth of college men were loyal buyers.
The company went public in 1971 and saw the peak of its circulation in 1972 with more than 7 million copies a month.
Playboy became one of the most influential magazines, and by the 1970s, an estimated one-fourth of college men were loyal buyers
Image credits: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
The brand’s dominance began to fade after the internet made it so easy to find adult content at one’s fingertips.
Free online content chipped away from the magazine’s core appeal.
In addition to this, Hefner’s scandalous personal life did nothing to help with Playboy’s image.
Image credits: pfpicardi/Instagram
The amount of n*k*dness in the magazine changed in the 2010s and eventually, by 2020, regular print of the magazine was stopped.
The year 2020 was also when Playboy hired Picardi, the magazine’s first openly gay editor-in-chief, and David Miller, Playboy’s president of media and brand, to revive operations.
As part of their renewed approach, Picardi said women posing as their Playmates and cover stars can now choose how much of their bodies they want to reveal.
They are “fully involved” in the creative process and participate in the approval of photographers and stylists.
As part of their renewed approach, Playmates and cover stars can choose how much of their body they want to show
Image credits: Djamilla Rosa Cochran/WireImage
“I stop short of calling what we do at Playboy feminist, because I think that’s a loaded term, and I’m sure many people would disagree with that qualification,” Picardi explained.
“But what I will say is what our approach with n*d*ty has always been: that it is up to a woman how much she has to show on set,” he went on to say.
Image credits: Playboy
Picardi said he’s been getting “really good feedback” about the “authenticity” and “rawness” of their current images.
It’s “not just from men, but outstanding feedback from women,” he added.
For the first issue of the relaunched Playboy, the quarterly magazine featured Colombian pop star Karol G and has already sold out.
Image credits: Playboy
Their second issue has steamy pictures of model and actress Cara Delevingne, who made history as the first out lesbian to appear on the print cover of Playboy.
Delevingne wore the brand’s iconic Bunny suit corset, complete with matching tail and ears.
The last person to wear the globally recognizable Bunny suit corset was Kate Moss in 2014.
Cara Delevingne made history as the first out lesbian to appear on the print cover of Playboy
Image credits: Playboy
Delevingne said she worked with a team that was predominantly female for the cover shoot, giving her a sense of agency over her body and embrace her image.
“Of course, Playboy is very much a heterosexual institution,” she said during a chat with New York Times best-selling author Ottessa Moshfegh.
Image credits: Playboy
“That’s why it felt like a bit of a f*** you and a rebellious thing to do, and to have an incredible female-led creative team — a lot of them being queer — felt really fun and different,” she added.
Delevingne said she previously felt a “bit gross” when she had to take her clothes off for movies and shoots
Image credits: Playboy
Delevingne said she has been clothless before for shoots and for movies.
“But it always made me feel a bit gross when it was for someone else — of course, it was my choice, and I agreed to it, but it never felt empowering,” she said.
Image credits: Playboy
“I’ve never felt more comfortable in my body and in my s**uality,” she added. “I feel like I’m in more of my prime as a woman and as a s**ual being.”
The model-actress-musician was photographed by Zoey Grossman and styled by Lana Jay Lackey for the magazine’s summer issue, which will hit newsstands on July 28.
Netizens had mixed opinions about Playboy’s entire rebranding and renewed approach
