This article is about the magazine. For the lifestyle that inspired the magazine's name, see.

Nov 17, 2013. Playboy The Mansion is an adult simulation game developed by Cyberlore Studios, published by Groove Games and ARUSH Entertainment and licensed by Playboy Enterprises. It was first released for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Xbox consoles on January 25, 2005 in North America.

For other uses, see. Playboy CEO Ben Kohn Categories Frequency Monthly Publisher Total circulation (2017) 474,220 Founder Year founded October 1, 1953; 64 years ago ( 1953-10-01) First issue December 1953 Country United States Based in Language English, many others Website Playboy is an American men's and entertainment magazine. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. Notable for its of and semi-nude (), Playboy played an important role in the and remains one of the world's best-known brands, having grown into, with a presence in nearly every medium. In addition to the flagship magazine in the United States, special of Playboy are published worldwide. The magazine has a long history of publishing short stories by notable novelists such as,,,,,,,, and.

With a regular display of full-page color cartoons, it became a showcase for notable cartoonists, including,,,,, Erich Sokol,,, and. Playboy features monthly interviews of notable public figures, such as artists, architects, economists, composers, conductors, film directors, journalists, novelists, playwrights, religious figures, politicians, athletes, and race car drivers. The magazine generally reflects a liberal editorial stance, although it often interviews conservative celebrities. Of from the first issue of Playboy, December 1953 By spring 1953, Hugh Hefner—a 1949 psychology graduate who had worked in Chicago for magazine writing promotional copy; Publisher's Development Corporation in sales and marketing; and Children's Activities magazine as circulation promotions manager —had planned out the elements of his own magazine, that he would call Stag Party. He formed HMH Publishing Corporation, and recruited his friend Eldon Sellers to find investors. Hefner eventually raised just over $8,000, including from his brother and mother.

However, the publisher of an unrelated magazine,, contacted Hefner and informed him it would file suit to protect their trademark if he were to launch his magazine with that name. Hefner, his wife Millie, and Sellers met to seek a new name, considering 'Top Hat', 'Gentleman', 'Sir', 'Satyr', 'Pan' and 'Bachelor' before Sellers suggested 'Playboy'. The first issue, in December 1953, was undated, as Hefner was unsure there would be a second. He produced it in his kitchen. The first centerfold was, although the picture used originally was taken for a calendar rather than for Playboy.

Hefner chose what he deemed the 'sexiest' image, a previously unused of Marilyn stretched with an upraised arm on a red velvet background with closed eyes and mouth open. The heavy promotion centered around Marilyn's nudity on the already-famous calendar, together with the teasers in marketing, made the new Playboy magazine a success. The first issue sold out in weeks. Known circulation was 53,991.

The cover price was 50¢. Copies of the first issue in mint to near mint condition sold for over $5,000 in 2002. [ ] The novel, by, was published in 1953 and serialized in the March, April and May 1954 issues of Playboy.

An started about Hefner and the because of markings on the front covers of the magazine. From 1955 to 1979 (except for a six-month gap in 1976), the 'P' in Playboy had stars printed in or around the letter. The legend stated that this was either a rating that Hefner gave to the Playmate according to how attractive she was, the number of times that Hefner had slept with her, or how good she was in bed. The stars, between zero and 12, actually indicated the domestic or international advertising region for that printing. The Editorial Board of Playboy in 1970.

Back, left to right:, Nat Lehrman, Richard M. Koff, Murray Fisher, Arthur Kretchmer; front: Sheldon Wax, Auguste Comte Spectorsky, Jack Kessie. From 1966 to 1976, was the Fiction Editor at Playboy. During this period the magazine published fiction by,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and, as well as poetry.

Macauley also contributed all of the popular Ribald Classics series published between January 1978 and March 1984. [ ] Since reaching its peak in the 1970s, Playboy saw a decline in circulation and cultural relevance due to competition in the field it founded—first from, then (which was published as a spin-off of Playboy) and in the 1970s; later from pornographic; and more recently from such as,, and. In response, Playboy has attempted to re-assert its hold on the 18–35 male demographic through slight changes to content and focusing on issues and personalities more appropriate to its audience—such as hip-hop artists being featured in the ' Playboy Interview'. [ ], daughter of the founder Hugh Hefner, joined Playboy in 1975 and became head of the company in 1988. She announced in December 2008 that she would be stepping down from leading the company, effective in January 2009, and said that the election of Barack Obama as the next President had inspired her to give more time to charitable work, and that the decision to step down was her own.

“Just as this country is embracing change in the form of new leadership, I have decided that now is the time to make changes in my own life as well,” she said. Post-2000 The magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary with the January 2004 issue. Celebrations were held at, Los Angeles, New York, and Moscow during the year to commemorate this event.

Playboy also launched limited-edition products designed by a number of notable fashion-houses such as Versace, and Sean Jean. As a hommage to the magazine 50th anniversary, released two limited-edition products, namely a lipstick and a glitter cream. The magazine runs several annual features and ratings. One of the most popular is its annual ranking of the top 'party schools' among all U.S. Universities and colleges.

For 2009, the magazine used five considerations: bikini, brains, campus, sex and sports in the development of its list. The top ranked party school by Playboy for 2009 was the. In June 2009, the magazine reduced its publication schedule to 11 issues per year, with a combined July/August issue and on August 11, 2009. London's newspaper reported that Hugh Hefner had sold his English Manor house (next door to the famous ) for $18 m ($10 m less than the reported asking price) to another American Daren Metropoulos the President and co-owner of.

Also that due to significant losses in the company's value (down from $1 billion in 2000 to $84 million in 2009) the Playboy publishing empire is up for sale for $300 million. In December 2009, they further reduced the publication schedule to 10 issues per year, with a combined January/February issue. On July 12, 2010, Playboy Enterprises Inc. Announced Hefner's $5.50 per share offer ($122.5 million based on shares outstanding on April 30 and the closing price on July 9) to buy the portion of the company he did not already own and take the company private with the help of Rizvi Traverse Management LLC. The company derives much of its income from licensing rather than the magazine. On July 15, Penthouse owner FriendFinder Networks Inc.

Offered $210 million (the company is valued at $185 million), though Hefner, who already owned 70 percent of voting stock, did not want to sell. In January 2011, the publisher of Playboy magazine agreed to an offer by Hefner to take the company private for $6.15 per share, an 18 percent premium over the price of the last previous day of trading. The buyout was completed in March 2011.

2016 changes and brief ending of frontal nudity. In an interview Hefner explained his choice of a rabbit as Playboy's logo to the Italian journalist: The rabbit, the bunny, in America has a sexual meaning; and I chose it because it's a fresh animal, shy, vivacious, jumping - sexy. First it smells you then it escapes, then it comes back, and you feel like caressing it, playing with it. A girl resembles a bunny.

Joyful, joking. Consider the girl we made popular: the She is never sophisticated, a girl you cannot really have. She is a young, healthy, simple girl - the girl next door...

We are not interested in the mysterious, difficult woman, the, who wears elegant underwear, with lace, and she is sad, and somehow mentally filthy. The Playboy girl has no lace, no underwear, she is naked, well washed with soap and water, and she is happy. — 'Hugh Hefner: 'I am in the center of the world,' by Oriana Fallaci, LOOK Magazine, January 10, 1967 The jaunty rabbit was quickly a popular symbol of extroverted male culture, becoming a of revenue for Playboy. In the 1950s, it was adopted as for the fighter-evaluation squadron. The Playboy Interview Besides its centerfold, a major part of Playboy for much of its existence has been the Playboy Interview, an extensive (usually several thousand-word) discussion between a notable individual and an interviewer (historian, for example, served as a Playboy interviewer on a few occasions; one of his interviews was with; he also interviewed and American Nazi Party founder in the April 1966 issue, then coauthored Malcolm X's autobiography).

One of the magazine's most notable interviews was a discussion with then-presidential candidate in the November 1976 issue, in which he stated 'I've committed in my heart many times.' 's interview with and appeared in the January 1981 issue, which was on newsstands at the time of Lennon's murder; the interview was later published in book format. Another interview type section, entitled '20Q' (a play on the game of ), was added in October 1978.

Was the first interviewee for the section. Rock the Rabbit 'Rock the Rabbit' was an annual music news and pictorial feature published in the March edition. The pictorial featured images of photographed by music photographer. Fashion designers participated in the Rock the Rabbit event by designing T-shirts inspired by Playboy's rabbit head logo for each band. The shirts were sold at Playboy's retailers and auctioned off to raise money for AIDS at LIFEbeat: The Music Industry Fights AIDS.

Notable bands who were featured include:,,,,,, and. Photographers Many notable photographers have contributed to Playboy, including,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and. Celebrities For a full listing, please see,,,,,,. Many celebrities (singers, actresses, models, etc.) have posed for Playboy over the years. This list is only a small portion of those who have posed. Some of them are. Sports: • (November 1997 Russian edition) • (December 1998) • (April 1999 German Edition) • (November 2000 and January 2002) • (January 2001) • (May 2002) • (May 2003 and March 2004 [the latter with ]) • (September 2004) • (July 2007) • (August 2008) Television: • (July 1971) • (February 1980 and December 1984) • (November 1990) • (December 1991 and May 1993) • (March 1994 and December 2003) • (December 1995 and July 1997) • (October 1999) • (September 2000) • (May 2001 and November 2004) • (August 2008) • (May 2011).

Main article: The success of Playboy magazine has led PEI to market other versions of the magazine, the (formerly called Newsstand Specials), such as and, as well as the collection. Braille The (NLS) has published a edition of Playboy since 1970. The Braille version includes all the written words in the non-Braille magazine, but no pictorial representations. Congress cut off funding for the Braille magazine translation in 1985, but U.S.

District Court Judge Thomas Hogan reversed the decision on grounds. International editions. Asia • Indonesia (2006–2007) • Singapore • Hong Kong (1986–1993) • Taiwan (1990–2003) • Japan (1975–2009)—see Europe • Georgia (country) (2007–2009) • Norway (1998–1999) • Sweden (1998–1999) • Turkey (1986–1995) • France (1973–2011) Oceania • Australia (1979–2000)—see Online The growth of the Internet prompted the magazine to develop an official web presence called Playboy Online or Playboy.com, which is the official website for, and an online companion to Playboy magazine. The site has been available online since 1994. As part of the online presence, Playboy developed a pay web site called the Playboy Cyber Club in 1995 which features online chats, additional pictorials, videos of and Playboy Cyber Girls that are not featured in the magazine. Archives of past Playboy articles and interviews are also included.

In September 2005, Playboy launched the online edition of the magazine Playboy Digital. In 2010, Playboy introduced 'The Smoking Jacket', a website designed to appeal to young men, while avoiding nude images or key words that would cause the site to be filtered or otherwise prohibited in the workplace. In May 2011, Playboy introduced i.playboy.com, a complete, uncensored version of its near 700 issue archive, targeting the. By launching the archive as a, Playboy was able to circumvent both Apple's content restrictions and their 30% subscription fee. Litigation and legal issues.

Further information: On January 14, 2004, the ruled that Playboy Enterprises Inc.' S (PEI) trademark terms 'Playboy' and 'Playmate' should be protected in the situation where a user typing 'Playboy' or 'Playmate' in a search was instead shown advertisements of companies that competed with PEI. (The decision reversed an earlier district court ruling.) The suit started on April 15, 1999, when Playboy sued and for trademark infringement.

Censorship Many in the American religious community opposed the publication of Playboy. The pastor and author L. Clover wrote in his 1974 treatise Evil Spirits Intellectualism and Logic that Playboy encouraged young men to view themselves as 'pleasure-seeking individuals for whom sex is fun and women are play things.' In many parts of Asia, including India,,, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei, sale and distribution of Playboy is banned. In addition, sale and distribution is banned in most Muslim countries (except Lebanon and Turkey) in Asia and Africa, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Despite the ban on the magazine in these countries, the official Playboy brand itself can still appear on various merchandise such as perfume and deodorants.

While banned in mainland China, the magazine is sold in Hong Kong. In Japan, where, a separate edition was published under license. [ ] An Indonesian edition was launched in April 2006, but controversy started before the first issue hit the stands. Though the publisher said the content of the Indonesian edition will be different from the original edition, the government tried to ban it by using anti-pornography rules. [ ] A Muslim organization, the Islamic Defenders Front (IDF), opposed Playboy on the grounds of pornography. On April 12, about 150 IDF members clashed with police and stoned the editorial offices. Despite this, the edition quickly sold out.

On April 6, 2007, the chief judge of the case dismissed the charges because they had been incorrectly filed. In 1986, the American convenience store chain removed the magazine.

The store returned Playboy to its shelves in late 2003. 7-Eleven had also been selling Penthouse and other similar magazines before the ban. [ ] In 1995, Playboy was returned to shelves in the Republic of Ireland after a 36-year ban, despite staunch opposition from many women's groups. Playboy was not sold in the state of during 2004 and 2005 but returned as of 2006.

Due to declining sales, the last Australia-wide edition of Playboy was the January 2000 issue. [ ] In 2013, Playboy was cleared by the Pentagon of violating its rule against selling sexually explicit material on military property, but the base exchanges stopped selling it anyway. Books General compilations • Nick Stone, editor.

The Bedside Playboy. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1963. Anniversary collections • Jacob Dodd, editor.

The Playboy Book: Forty Years. Santa Monica, California: General Publishing Group, 1994, • Playboy: 50 Years, The Photographs. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003, • Nick Stone, editor; Michelle Urry, cartoon editor. Playboy: 50 Years, The Cartoons.

San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004. • Gretchen Edgren, editor. The Playboy Book: Fifty Years. Taschen, 1995. Interview compilations •, editor. The Playboy Interview.

New York: Playboy Press, 1981. (hardcover), (softcover) • G. Barry Golson, editor. The Playboy Interview Volume II. New York: Wideview/Perigee, 1983. (hardcover), (softcover) • David Sheff, interviewer; G.

Barry Golson, editor. The Playboy Interviews with and. New York: Playboy Press, 1981,; 2000 edition, • Stephen Randall, editor. The Playboy Interview Book: They Played the Game. New York: M Press, 2006, See also • • • • • • • • • Media • • • References. Retrieved 20 October 2017. Retrieved 2016-02-14.

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External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. Official • • (Corporate website) • Others • —Thousands of Playboy covers from all past and present editions worldwide. • Crossett, Andrew, ' ', 2007.