My classmates either recoiled in horror or snickered when I said...in all seriousness...that I wanted to resurrect the "Playboy"brand.
My teacher, an attractive woman to begin with, was kind enough to give me an opportunity to explain that I wasn't talking about pornography, or even nudity. Certainly my plan would include continuing with half-dressed female celebrities and naked centerfolds...but I was more concerned with salvaging the brand itself.
When Playboy was at it's peak in the 1960's and 70's, it was (much) more than just a collection of naked pictures. Playboy had established itself as everything the wealthy, single man aspired to be. It covered fashion, accessories, media, travel. It featured interviews with the most popular in show business and/or politics. The fiction was smart, and it regularly featured the fictional detective Mike Hammer: the strong, silent type always won over an attractive (and usually busty) damsel in distress.
And the Rabbit logo that had become a cultural icon at one point, was right away recognized as a sign of something sexy, but not "dirty". It was the mascot of a somewhat secret club. You were either a part of it, or you didn't get it at all.
My contention was that nudity, travel, fashion and media were still relevant...but Playboy as a brand had not aged well. Somehow it went from being best in class to being "that magazine your dad used to read.". Certainly, free porn and cable television created a different version of "Sexy", but sexy wasn't the problem in my eyes. The problem was that magazine stopped catering to the demographics that most supported it: the 18-35 year old male who cared as much as HIS appearance as he did the appearance of the girls he was looking for.
From athletes, to rappers to actors to multi-millionaires....there were still heroes to emulate, and an audience of young men who could afford to emulate them. I saw a magazine that catered to that crowd, and it talked as much about Jay-Z and Grant Cardone as it did about Jack Nicholson and Donald Trump.
With a sound argument and a truckload of conviction, I won my teacher over and got an "A" on that paper. The Playboy brand has since gone through a few small pivots and changes, but it's still not the world-recognized symbol of wealth and sexiness I envision it could be. Perhaps, with a few more million dollars and a few partners who have the same vision, I'll one day take it for myself and mold it into model of greatness it once represented....
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