Proof That Playboy Is ‘Broken’
By K. Daniel Glover | June 1, 2009
From the Department of Lousy Timing: New Playboy magazine CEO Scott Flanders told the Chicago Tribune, "I don't think Playboy is broken in any respect."
His interview was published on the very day that the Playboy empire, which made a fortune exploiting women for decades, finally crossed an ethical line -- and then retreated.
It all started when Playboy.com decided to publish a hate piece by rape-fantasist Guy Cimbalo that envisioned sexual attacks on leading conservative women, including Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and bloggers Amanda Carpenter, Pamela Geller, Mary Katharine Ham and Michelle Malkin. The writing and the entire concept of the piece were so vile that the AOL News publication Politics Daily wouldn't leave a liberal writer's criticism of it online.
For whatever clueless reason, a female blogger at Politico decided to whitewash the misogynistic language and name the conservative women without comment about the hateful rhetoric, but conservative bloggers weren't about to keep quiet. In addition to blogging their outrage, they organized a "tweetstorm" against the author and complained to Playboy.
Bloggers like John Hawkins of Right Wing News were particularly irked not only that Playboy published the piece but that its PR department sent a press release about the article to conservative bloggers. The outcry against Playboy was so loud that the publication pulled the article after it had been online only a few hours.
All of this obviously happened after Flanders, who left a good job as president and CEO of the "family newspaper" company Freedom Communications to head Playboy, had given his interview to the Tribune, but the timing still stinks for him.
Flanders told the Tribune he took the Playboy job because of its "unmatched brand" and later added that the company has "a very powerful brand, a very powerful asset." If it ever did, it doesn't anymore.
Have fun in the new job, Mr. Flanders.
[Cross-posted at Hot Air's Green Room]
K. Daniel Glover is the online communications strategist for AIM for Accuracy In Media. He has worked as an editor, writer and new media specialist in the Washington area since 1991, spending most of that time at National Journal and Congressional Quarterly.
9 Comments | Post a Comment
Does this mean that I should not approach PB with pics to do an article on my book, Faithful Devotion? Was truly just considering this, today. Very interesting.
Lisa
This is yet another example of the double standard that exists. It is apparently okay to say anything vile and despicable about conservative women - while liberal women will scream like stuck pigs (the resemblance is wholly coincidental) if the same is said of them. Here’s the deal: Rape of any man or woman is WRONG and criminal and is not an act to be celebrated or discussed as desirable in any context. Anyone who does so has more than a few screws loose and should be interdicted from decent human society in perpetuity! And the Playboy brand is disgusting in all contexts.
First, I appoint Hugh Hefner’s daughter Christine to be one of my corporate economic advisers. Then, Playboy Corporation, an ineptly managed company, does a fine Chicago styled hit job on some of my female critics. It’s a win-win, baby!
The problem isn’t that some moron would write an article on such a subject - - but that, apparently, far too many people are willing to read such garbage! Pop culture keeps going deeper and deeper into the sewer muck!
The once-iconic brand “Packard” is long gone - so why shouldn’t the once-iconic “Playboy” brand also be gone?
.
Neo-Liberalism is a mental disease. Conservative women are HOTter! But it’s not hard to imagine the justified ‘Liberal’ outrage if say, Hustler Magazine ran a disgusting parody where Rush, Hannity, Beck, Savage and Ann Coulter gang-rape and tickle-torture Katie Couric, the PIAPS, and then Nancy Pelosi.
Imagine. The outrage would last for months in the MSM. There would be calls for firings and boycotts. NOW would be apoplectic. Poor little outraged, hypocritical Libs.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
joke about raping women
if they are conservative
EVIL freedom lovers…
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
sex is the height of evil
so is photography
but not pornography
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
always rape women…
who are conservative
they’re just gender traitors
.
That is absolutely disgusting! Playboy should be ashamed and in my opinion this story was not given enough press. Playboy’s brand indeed took a severe hit when they allowed this.
This is sick. Go figure the liberal media doesn’t give it any attention. How Playboy can condone this, is beyond me.
I would have to agree with the above comment made by Baby, it true how can Playboy condone this?
June 1 at 11:42 pm | #1 | Link
there was also a tweetstorm to @playboy as well as calls to corporate office by liberal tweeters in support of conservative female bloggers at approximately 3:20 central time search #playboy
also several liberal blogs spoke out such as jezebel and @tommyxtopher