October 13, 2009
HotMES to buy her first issue of Playboy!
So, TMZ.com was right, Marge Simpson will be on the cover of Playboy:
If those coveted 20-something readers can’t identify with Hugh Hefner, maybe they will with “The Simpsons.”
Like nearly everything printed on paper these days, Playboy magazine has been facing tough times. Advertising pages have dropped 31 percent over the last year, newsstand sales have dried up by 25 percent, and its circulation has dipped to 2.4 million, according to publishing insider Media Industry Newsletter.
Can a blue-haired mother of three deliver the iconic gentleman’s book to a new generation?
Part commemoration of “The Simpsons’” 20th anniversary, part nod to the golden days of Playboy, what has become known as “The Marge Simpson Cover” has drummed up more attention for Playboy than the premiere of the original “Girls Next Door.” But it remains to be seen whether the animated move can open the wallets of a younger generation.
“The shock value always does Playboy very good,” said Media Industry Newsletter online editor-in-chief Steve Cohn. “This is a novelty one, but it’s no different than a celebrity. In a sense, Marge has something in common with a woman who’s never done it before, someone like Nancy Sinatra.”
But it’s not exactly shock value Playboy is going for — more like “hip, cool” and the kind of magazine a 25-year-old would read. Maxim, a “lad mag” with an average reader of 29, also ran a cover of Marge Simpson in 2004, depicting the d’oh-eyed beauty in a sheer dress on all fours, scrubbing the floor.
“We knew Marge’s pictorial would appeal to a large demographic,” said Playboy editorial director Jimmy Jellinek. “This cover and pictorial is just another example of how we’re evolving our editorial content to continue to reach men in their 20s, and also maintain the elements of the magazine that have attracted readers for more than 50 years.”
I first reported on this last week, where I also corrected their facts that The Simpsons first appeared in 1987, not 1989, as was reported by the celebrity gossip website.
One of my readers who made a comment on that first blog entry, who I think was just saying anything to post her link on there, thinks this is a huge risk for Playboy. Not really. The Simpsons Movie did so well because the show has such a large built in base. I have no interest in buying a Playboy, but I’ll probably be buying a couple of copies of this one, and not just for me, but for some friends/family, as well. This is no chance; it’s a guaranteed boost for the magazine, even if it’s only temporary.
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