Playboy? Are They Still Around?

Playboy. I think back to Barbie Benton. She’s six months older than me. Probably a grandmother now. That fantasy’s been derailed.

I can’t tell you the last time I saw Playboy¹. A bill came from them today anyway! Unbeknown to me someone put my name on a subscription form. There’s a website for problems like mine. In two sentences I explained my situation.

“We have received your email inquiry and it is being sent to a Customer Service Representative; please do not reply to this message. We respond to all email inquiries in the order in which they are received. We value our customers and promise you a prompt reply. Thank you for contacting Playboy.”

Playboy. I think back to Barbie Benton. She’s six months older than me. Probably a grandmother now. That fantasy’s been derailed.

Through my daughter I know Hefner and concubines have been on cable for a few seasons. Viagara notwithstanding, does anyone really think these girls desire Hef and, quite honestly, vice versa?

I don’t have Hef’s money but to women of playmate age I am transparent! This is not a recent occurrence.

One of these women married Hank Baskett the former Philadelphia Eagle who fumbled the ball during this year’s Super Bowl. That makes sense. Hef, not so much.

The real reason I’m writing this is I’m surprised Playboy still exists at all. Times are tough for print and even tougher for porn²! Who exactly is buying this?

With naked pictures taken with cellphone cameras held at the end of outstretched arms, the advent of ‘sexting’³ and an Internet full of flesh what place does Playboy still hold? What part of the market is still available to them?

Playboy was readily available because it was considered ‘classy.’ With the Internet isn’t even the pretense of classy now unnecessary?

I have two business days to think about all this.

¹ – That could be said even if Helaine wasn’t reading this.

² – OK, it’s not porn, but it’s certainly in competition with porn.

³ – Secondhand knowledge. Honest.