Playboy rebrands nude Playmates, touts respectful makeover of Bunnies: Its not porn

Playboy is reviving its iconic Playboy Playmates and Bunnies as part of a broader effort to modernize the storied but long-struggling men’s magazine brand — with executives insisting the publication remains a far cry from pornography.“There’s always been a difference between Playboy and porn, especially the kinds of porn that are really prevalent today and that people have access to just by having a Twitter account or a Reddit account,” Phillip Picardi, Playboy’s editor-in-chief and chief brand officer, told Press Gazette over the weekend.“[A]nd so I actually found the challenge of bringing back an artfulness and a thoughtfulness to nudity to be super exciting as a creative.”The relaunched quarterly magazine has already sold out the modest print run of its first issue, featuring Colombian pop star Karol G, according to Press Gazette.A second issue — featuring model and actress Cara Delevingne wearing only a latex corset — was unveiled last week with a slightly larger print run planned.Picardi and David Miller, Playboy’s president of media and brand, were hired this year to revive the company’s media operation after regular print publication ended in 2020.The relaunch is focused on restoring the storytelling that once drove Playboy’s prestige while expanding the brand across digital, social media and video.Picardi, Playboy’s first openly gay editor-in-chief, said women who appear as Playmates or cover stars decide how much of their bodies they want to reveal and are “fully involved” in the creative process, including approving photographers and stylists.“I stop short of calling what we do at Playboy feminist, because I think that’s a loaded term, and I’m sure many people would disagree with that qualification,” he said.“But what I will say is what our approach with nudity has always been: that it is up to a woman how much she has to show on set.”He added that Playboy aims to present more authentic imagery than in decades pa...