Playboy's late-life identity crisis

Poor old Playboy doesn't know what to be in the 21st Century.

Founded as somewhat of a countercultural icon for affluent and educated men almost 60 years ago, it played an important (if one-sided) part in the Sexual Revolution and spoke out against McCarthyism. In the '60s, it matured into a brand for the wannabe martini set. But by the '70s, hardcore pornography took away its more horny audiences as it maintained its relevance through top-notch interviews and celebrity pictorials. In the '80s, it was all about video.

Now, here we are in the digital age. Pictures of naked women are abundant and free. So is interesting and subversive content. So what's left for Playboy?

I think their biggest problem is that sex, culture and politics are no longer a man's exclusive domain. Playboy will never be able to shake its basically sexist brand character, and who wants to be associated with that?

The douchebag market, that's who. Young men who read Maxim and wear Axe.

To compete with Maxim, Playboy launched The Smoking Jacket, an online ladmag that covers culture, entertainment and boobies with a less overtly-pornographic, teasing style. Fellow adblogger Steve Hall, from Adrants, is one of the contributors. (He pens a "sexy ads of the week" column.)

And Axe?

Check out this Playboy shower gel ad by DDB Paris:



Yeah, it's a shitty ad. It's also extremely creepy. Can you imagine how a young woman would feel if a strange man, alone with her in the elevator, hit the emergency button? She'd be expecting the worst.

I don't really know if Playboy has a future as a serious brand. It could be that, in a few years, it will only survive as a logo worn ironically (or desperately) by attention-seeking young women.

What do you think?

Needlessly creepy parental control ads

Why so creepy? My guess is that the Art Director watches a lot of vintage porn.

Unfortunately, the "parent" in these ads ends up looking like a predator. Which is pretty much the opposite of what was intended. (Also, why is the supposed protagonist made of porn? Hmmm...)

Ads by Sancho BBDO, Bogota, Colombia.

Via Ads Of The World

Parapornal activity #FdAdFriday

Horror hides in a box of porn...

Remember last Christmas, when Acart Communications did that Paranormal Activity spoof? We weren't the first to parody the horror franchise, and we won't be the last.

But I don't think anyone will ever make a weirder one than this:



This trailer was made to attract attention to Christian "Comedian*" Rich Praytor's campaign to make his big idea — of combining borrowed interest from Paranormal Activity, Poltergeist and other pop memes, bad jokes, and a morality play about pornography — into a feature film.

According to the Kickstarter page:

Why are we doing a project like this?     
Because films are not only entertaining but they're also a way to teach people.  Society learns their morals and values through music, film and television.  Pornography is such a huge problem that simply telling someone how dangerous it is usually doesn't work.  You have to tell a compelling story to catch someone's attention and then educate them while they're being entertained.  

Praytor promises to let big donors actually take part in the making of the film: For $250, you can "be apart [sic] of a creative brainstorming session with the cast and crew via Skype or in person (transportation not included)"; for $500, they'll name a character after you; for $3500, they'll fly you  to Colorado Springs to direct one of four scenes created from your ideas; $5000 gets you the Executive Producer credit.

But the best deal is the $7500 option:

"The director and two actors will travel to your location (continental United States only) for the day and shoot a scene you created. You will also direct the scene and spend the day with the team."
The subversive potential of being able to write and direct a scene in a low-budget Christian comedo-horror almost seems worth the money.

*And why did I put "comedian" in quotes?

Here is some of Praytor's earlier Christian comedy gold:




Tip via Buzzfeed

Pornterest

Today, Buzzfeed published an amusing post about how the word "porn" is used on Pinterest (a social scrapbooking site where people gather favourite online images) to describe anything they like looking at.

And not just the trendy term "food porn" either:

"Fishing Gear Porn"

"Word Porn"

"Real Estate Porn"

What I found particularly amusing about this (besides the fact that someone innocently called their board "dog porn") is that this morning Jezebel had a post about the actual Pinterest of Porn, called "Snatchly". (The link is safe — it goes to a signup page.)

Worlds are colliding. Or, rather, "words".

But let's just hope this overuse of the p-word doesn't end in tragedy, when an innocent sweet tooth in need of some delicious Pudding Porn ends up instead conjuring up two girls and a cup over on the wrong network.

"Geometric Porn" is not coming on your iPhone #FdAdFriday

"Something abstract existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence. Visual geometry containing the non-explicit description of sexual organs or activity. Arising in the mind it intends to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings."

I never thought math could be so dirty. Watch the demo videos, by Luciano Foglia, if you dare to enter the abstractly sexual world of Geometric Porn.

The designer himself says:

"Suitable for children. While there are innumerable ways that pornography harms children, Geometric Porn will not traumatise them in any way. The content of this website is suitable for children aged 4 or over 4+."

Nonetheless, Apple rejected the app, stating:

"Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected. We found that many audiences would find your app concept objectionable, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines."

 Judge for yourself...


Geometric Porn App Preview from Luciano Foglia on Vimeo.



   

He also sells t-shirts:

Tip via kottke

These porn ads are so fatuous

These ads for MTS's Amour TV "adult" channel remind me of that great scene in The Big Lebowski.

İzleyin: Geleneksel Big Lebowski festivali

[Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] "You must be here to fix the cable."
Maude Lebowski: Lord. "You can imagine where it goes from here."
The Dude: "He fixes the cable?"
Maude Lebowski: "Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey"

But in these ads, the creative team at Dare Vancouver isn't being fatuous at all:


Amour 'Dirty Pool' from thisisdare on Vimeo.



Amour 'Officer Biggs' from thisisdare on Vimeo.



Amour 'Special Delivery' from thisisdare on Vimeo.


Personally, I think it would have been even better as a campaign for censorware.

Tip Via Ads of The World
Embeds via Joey Tomatoes 

Playboy celebrates getting caught looking at porn

Because, hey! Who wouldn't rather look at heavily photoshopped wannabe actresses' naked bodies rather than spending time with loved ones...

Or working...

Or doing nothing at all?

Clever idea, but it makes me kind of sad for the target audience.

For Playboy's Spanish "TV" web site, by Y&R Argentina. (You wonder if they ever get any work done down there.)

Note that, once again, all creative teams assume everyone owns a Mac.

Via Ads of the World

How can a woman make more than a man in the same career?

Just ask Sasha Grey:





This PSA from Belgium's Equal Pay Day movement is an interesting one. The message, "Porn is about the only way for women to make more than men" highlights the problem of women being valued more for the sexual pleasure they can give to men (either directly or voyeuristically) than for non-sexualized accomplishments.

From the cause site:

On average, women still earn 22% less than men. One of the main reasons this issue still exists is that too often young women make career choices led by general expectations. Equal Pay Day however wants to motivate them to think about these expectations, and not just follow them blindly. Sasha Grey wants to as well, and to help spark the debate, she's agreed to share the story about her short but demanding career in adult entertainment.

At the same time, Ms. Grey is an unashamed and defiantly un-regretful case study in life after porn. She has managed to cross over, perhaps more than any hard core female "adult" performer before her, even though her reputation occasionally gets in the way of her trying to be an average citizen.

Does her refusal to vilify the industry that is being used as the extreme example of sexist attitudes in the workplace help or hinder the message?

Via Illegal Advertising

Liquid-Plumr porn #FdAdFriday

A hunky plumber comes to a lonely woman's door, telling her "I'm here to snake your drain". A second arrives shortly after, saying "I'm here to flush your pipe".

You can imagine what happens next... 

Don't be fatuous!

Via AdFreak

Don't look too closely at this Santorum mosaic #FdAdFriday

That is, unless you want to see more Santorum.

Not the man, mind you, but the substance. It's made up entirely of gay porn.

Via Death + Taxes

My sister-in-law, the pornographer*

*Not really.

But Bonnie Robinson, with whom I have been proud to have been related by marriage for almost 24 years, did take the prize for Best Local Film in the Odessa Filmworks' fourth annual erotic film festival, "Painted Lips and Lolly Licks".  Bonnie was writer and producer of YOW! Productions' and Coffee From Hell Productions' entry, "Room 218", directed and co-produced by Andrew Alexander.

What's really cool about this short winning is that it's not sexy at all. In fact, it shows the awkwardness and even pain that goes into preparing for a casual dating sexual encounter that leaves both parties fairly unfulfilled. We see ordinary people craving love, giving in to lust, and ending with nothing. Actors Jodi Morden and Nicolas Di Gaetano do a great job of looking like they're going through the motions, whether it's plucking hairs or knocking boots.


Room 218 from YOW Productions on Vimeo.


I'd love to know exactly what celebrity film fest judge Kimberly Kane thought when she saw the film. Was she refreshed to see sex shown as something mundane and unembellished? Did she empathize with the woman looking in the mirror as she stoically prepared her body for presentation to a lover?

I have no idea. But I am a proud brother-in-law.

F'd Ad Fridays: Star Wars porn parody more into FX than sex

According to the You Tube post:

"With the highest budget ever for an X-rated spoof, an all-star cast, and award-winning director Axel Braun's legendary attention to detail, STAR WARS XXX: A PORN PARODY, a joint venture between Axel Braun Productions and Vivid Entertainment, is poised to become the most successful Adult movie of all times. The long-anticipated official trailer offers a sneak peek at the extensive special effects, spectacular production value, and totally metrosexual C3PO. May the farce be with you!"

Now, call me old fashioned, but I thought pornography was supposed to be about people having sex in every conceivable position while muddling through a contrived storyline about a cable guy or something.

Allie Haze, who plays the princess, says that this parody is "staying really true to the original."



Indeed. As George Lucas once said, "there's no underwear in space".

F'd Ad Fridays: Find His Porn

Who needs a trusting relationship of mutual respect when, for just $19.95, you can expose your partner's computer to some stranger's cyber-frisking?

From the site:

"Why do I need it? 

Long gone are the days when guys would hide their porn stash under their mattress or in their dresser drawers. Porn has gone virtual – which means no more adult DVD’s or dirty magazines that you will find lying around. Everything he looks at is right there on your computer, only problem is it’s not easy to find. Aren’t you curious what he’s up to? You are not alone. Most women are curious and until now there was little that could be done. Now all you have to do is try Find His Porn today and see exactly what he’s watching. "

Or you could just ask him to share it, if you're so into that kind of thing.

Via Buzzfeed