PLAYBOY: Your Father's Oldsmobile?

[Mark Tomlonson]

Dan Stiffler wrote:

>On 2/4/03 10:11 AM, "Mark Tomlonson" <tomlonson@WMICH.EDU> wrote:
>
>>My preference would be a centerfold as the link between the old and new
>>Playboy.

>The centerfold still can be a link, provided the new guys on the block don't
>screw it up.

So how do you make a centerfold for the 21st Century? Obviously a pretty 
woman is going to be the subject, but what's her attitude? Does the 
co-ed in a dorm room still work as a theme? Should it be harder? Softer?

>I would argue that a change in cover art--going decidedly retro--could make
>a big difference.

You won't argue with me (play on words there) about that. But you want 
to capture the feel of the old Art Paul covers, not duplicate them. As 
good as some of them are graphically, they're still products of the fifties.

>>>Let me ask you this: if Oldsmobile had decided to release a new 442, do you
>>>think young buyers would be so worried that it had been their dads' car?
>>>
>>Nope. But the 442 was atypical for Olds. How about the 88?
>>
>As in "Rocket 88"?

I was thinking more like Delta 88. That rolling living room didn't 
inspire much of anything, except as a convertible.

>Why do we think that PLAYBOY--the magazine, that
>is--needs to aim at the common denominator, the "quarter-educated"? Leave the "quarter-educated" to those
>guys and be satisfied that PLAYBOY provides the best entertainment for the
>sophisticated man.

Good idea, unless you want a mass-circulation number to take to advertisers.

>And have you seen the new Mercury
>Marauder?

It's the antithesis to the signs pointing to the collapse of Western 
Civilization. I haven't experienced so much raw lust since Elisa 
Bridges' PMOM appearance

Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI