Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire became an iconic part of pop culture, but struggled to keep up. Here's what led to the company's rise and fall.
- Playboy's best selling issue sold over 7 million copies and the magazine made $12 million in revenue that same year.
- Hugh Hefner's empire became an iconic part of popular culture, but later struggled to keep up with new competitors, and failed to pivot online fast enough.
- Today, Playboy is a shell of what it once was, but is attempting to rebrand itself to appeal to younger generations.
Following is a transcript of the video.
Irene Kim: Playboy used to be everywhere. Its best-selling issue sold over 7 million copies. In the early 2000s, Playboy's logo could be found on everything from jewelry to tattoos, and Bunnies were all over movie screens and reality TV. But Hugh Hefner's gone, the original Playboy Clubs have closed, and magazine sales have shrunk to less than 4% of what they used to be. So, what happened?
In 1953, former copywriter Hugh Hefner saw a demand for a gentleman's magazine. Recruiting 45 investors who cobbled together $8,000, a young Hef was ready to launch what would become Playboy. Originally, Hefner wanted to call it Stag Party, but was challenged by Stag Magazine, so a friend suggested the name Playboy, and it stuck. But Hefner himself came up with Playboy's now iconic logo. He thought a tuxedoed rabbit would be "cute, frisky, and sexy." With no office to work out of, Hef put the first issue of Playboy together in his apartment on the kitchen table. The cover and centerfold featured Marilyn Monroe. But Monroe never posed for Playboy. Hefner bought old photos a struggling Monroe had posed for under a pseudonym, having no idea they would eventually end up as a magazine feature. The star was never paid for her Playboy debut. Regardless, the first issue was released in December 1953. A huge success, the magazine sold out of all 70,000 copies at $0.50 apiece.
Hefner immediately invested his profits back into Playboy, expanding his staff. Circulation grew quickly, partly because of the magazine's lack of competition. But not only was Playboy one of the first to publish colored photographs of nude women, its Playmate concept set it apart from the rest. Each issue featured a "Playmate of the month," starting with Hefner's then girlfriend and subscription-department employee Charlaine Karalus, aka Janet Pilgrim. Hefner described Playmates as women who could be "the new secretary at your office" or the "girl who sells you shirts and ties." In other words, a wholesome woman you could meet in real life, not a distant, professional model. The photo layouts were a seduction, with the Playmate slowly revealing more and more until being fully nude in the centerfold.
By the end of the 1950s, the magazine was selling a million copies a month. And while it was a popular joke to claim that one only bought Playboy for the articles, the magazine did establish a reputation for literary excellence, publishing in-depth interviews with all sorts of cultural icons and excerpts from esteemed writers like James Baldwin. Even when its first true competitor, Penthouse, launched, Playboy stayed on top, with print sales peaking at 7.1 million copies of the November 1972 issue. Playboy made $12 million in profit that year. That's $73 million today. Playboy grew to be more than a magazine; it was a lifestyle. Hefner expanded Playboy Enterprises to include the Playboy Clubs, designed to embody the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle marketed by the magazine. 50,000 members joined the original Playboy Club in Chicago in its first year. Soon, there would be 23 Playboy Clubs around the world.
Bobbie Walters: It was an incredible place to be. It was magical.
Kim: That's Bobbie Walters. She worked as a Bunny at the Playboy Club in New York City and, later, Miami.
Walters: In New York City, there were 100 girls there. There were six different floors. So you could enjoy a show, you could enjoy a gourmet dinner, or you could dance to disco music, or you could just go down into the Playmate bar and have a drink.
Kim: As for what it was like to work as a Bunny...
Walters: The training was one week long. Once we got to the Playboy Club and got on the floor, we learned how to do the Bunny Dip. Tape: OK, once again, let's see the Bunny Dip down just so.
Walters: Which is an extremely ridiculous thing because you're standing on 6-inch heels, leaning backwards, serving liquor.
Kim: Bunnies had to follow strict rules dictated in their Bunny Manuals.
Walters: It told you all about the rules and regulations, how the costume was supposed to look.
Kim: Bunnies also had a specific greeting for guests.
Walters: So, you would walk up to the table slowly, and they would just be looking, "Oh, my God, there's my Bunny," and then you'd just approach a table and say, "Good evening, I'm your Bunny, Bobbie."
Kim: And the Bunnies were what really drew people to the Clubs.
Walters: You could get a scotch and soda anywhere, but you couldn't get a glimpse of a Playboy Bunny.
Kim: But the 750,000 Playboy Club members and 60 million magazines sold yearly wouldn't last forever. Despite their early success, all the Playboy Clubs were closed down by 1986. They had been losing money for years. The changing social and political climate shifted public perception of the clubs. Rather than being daring, they were now seen as degrading to women. And the rise of 1980s video porn was giving the print magazine competition. As magazines like Stuff and Maxim entered the market, circulation continued to decline through the '90s. Playboy also made the fatal mistake of not moving online fast enough. As the internet boomed, online searches for Playboy would literally return ads for their competitors. Playboy tried to offset its losses by licensing out its trademarked logo. Billions of dollars' worth of merchandise with the bunny logo were sold. Playboy merchandise did particularly well in Asia, especially China, despite laws prohibiting the magazine from being sold there. But it wasn't enough. The high sales numbers only returned small licensing revenue for Playboy. Hefner tried to revive his empire with a venture into reality TV. In 2005, he signed up for an E! reality show that followed his life with his then three girlfriends: Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. "The Girls Next Door" aired in over 150 countries worldwide and ran for six seasons. It made Hef and Playboy a visible part of early 2000s pop culture. Despite its decline, Playboy helped launch successful careers for the likes of Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith, while stars like Naomi Campbell and Madonna graced its cover. President Donald Trump is particularly proud of his Playboy feature. But by the time the company finally placed its full archives online, it was too late. When Hefner passed away in 2017, Playboy seemed directionless, and investors had been losing money for decades. With circulation at an all-time low and reported losses of $7 million a year, the magazine was scaled back to release only quarterly. But it isn't over for Playboy just yet. In September 2018, the Playboy Club in New York City reopened, complete with waitresses dressed as bunnies, and the magazine is rebranding to appeal to a younger generation. The 2019 summer issue featured not models or actresses, but instead, three activists. Women also now play a significant role behind the camera. It's a clear contrast to Playboy's origins, when women had very little autonomy. Whether Playboy's efforts to be more empowering can save the magazine remains to be seen. A lot has changed since Hugh Hefner started Playboy, and it's unclear whether it'll survive. But there's always the logo, and that's a billion-dollar legacy.