PlayBoy Ditches Nudity; Eyes Digital to Get Millennials
Playboy was at its peak in the 1970’s.
Now, nearly 50 years later, the company is hoping to attract millennials with a series of digital programming focusing on food, technology, journalism, and comedy.
“Millennials react to humor. So everything we do is funny,” Scott Flanders, CEO of Playboy Enterprises tells FOXBusiness.com. “We’re not curing cancer. We’re like aspirin for people. We’re about what to do when you’re not a work. It’s about how to have fun and how to be more attractive to women.”
The company has been on a massive transformation. In August of 2014, they redesigned their website Playboy.com as “safe for work” and in February, management striped all nudity from the magazine.
“The imaginary is still very sexy. When we showed it to our founder Hugh Hefner, he said this is what he intended all along for brand. It’s sexy without being explicit or uncomfortable to read on an airplane or to have on your coffee table,” adds Flanders.
Since the website re-launched, Flanders says traffic quadrupled and their average age went from 47 to 31. Now, they’re hoping the new lineup of scripted and unscripted shows will be hits with a younger generation.
“You’ll see us in more TV, feature films, and documentaries. You’re going to see us everywhere. We’ve been known in the past as a magazine but that is a tiny fraction of the audience that we reach every month.”
Their new programming is focused on living “The Good Life,” an image founder Hugh Hefner has epitomized since he started the company in 1953. New shows include: “House of Waris,” “The Life by Playboy,” “Tech 360,” and “Journalista.”
Flanders says the content is still very edgy though. “It’s not PG-13. It’s for adults but it is not adult content.”
Since March, the private-equity owned company has been exploring options, including a possible sale. Flanders says could happen down the line.
“We’ve been owned by this firm for 5 years. We used to be a public company before this firm took us private and they’ll be selling down their stake in the coming years but they’re in no hurry to do so,” says Flanders.
As for Hefner’s iconic Playboy mansion, it has been on the market since January for $200 million and it may be sold soon.
“We’ve had very substantial offers from three different continents. So, that’s something you should pay attention too.”
While the brand is shifting, Flanders says Playboy’s infamous pool parties are still alive and well.
“Do you think I would still be here, if there weren’t parties at the mansion?”