Hugh Hefner, Playboy, and the Business Behind the Brand

Introduction: Hefner's Reputation and Its Assumptions

Hugh Hefner has often been represented as a key player in the cultural objectification of women in the United States. Critics of his magazine have "argued that Playboy encourages men to eschew the responsibilities of adulthood by flouting the conventions of emotional commitment to and financial responsibility for women, in favor of a hedonistic focus on sexuality" (Beggan, 2003). Typically, Hefner has been perceived as a catalyst for the perpetuation of these moral standards, and his magazine has been viewed as an effort to break away from the values instilled by his parents — rooted in Puritan and Protestant Christianity. However, this assumption makes the all-too-common error of too strongly associating Hugh Hefner the man with the magazine that made him rich.

The Origins of Playboy as a Business Decision

Importantly, Hefner's original attempts at creating a magazine were utterly ordinary and uncontroversial. "At first he hoped to produce a wholesome journal about Chicago, but when he failed to find financial backing for that idea, he considered starting a trade magazine for cartoonists, and when that didn't catch on, he returned to the drawing board once more and, remembering the commercial success of PDC, ultimately decided that nude photo magazines weren't so bad after all" (Hylton, 2000). Essentially, Hefner's drive to produce a magazine featuring nude photographs was not caused by a restrictive upbringing, nor was it a result of a low opinion of women; it was simply seen as a way to make money.

After all, his wife was pregnant at the time and he needed to find a quick and reliable way to support their child. So, as Hefner's celebrity began to take off and his magazine promoted a free-wheeling lifestyle, he still lived a very ordinary life as a husband and father. "To Hefner, it was of no significance that his magazine did not reflect his own personal lifestyle or interests. What was important to him was that Playboy should depict a lifestyle that readers would want to emulate" (Hylton, 2000). In short, Hefner's morally provocative magazine was a calculated business decision.

Creating and Selling the Mr. Playboy Persona

If this is so, how is it that Hefner, from the 1960s to the present, continually maintained an image of male sexual freedom and female objectification in both his apparent lifestyle and his magazine? The simple answer is that it was another business move. In the pursuit of selling more magazines, it became apparent that the best way to accomplish this would be to sell himself — to become the image of the ideal man who would also be a Playboy subscriber. Broadly, Hefner wanted to illustrate that a man could be smart, sophisticated, moral, and still embrace sexuality.

"He decided to become his own mascot. No longer would he hide behind his desk, the invisible force behind Playboy. No longer would he settle for being the editor and company president. From 1960 onward, he would set an example of the moral yet sexual man" (Hylton, 2000). Hefner even termed this image "Mr. Playboy" and refined it mentally over the years (Hylton, 2000).

Works Cited

Beggan, James K., and Scott T. Allison. "What Sort of Man Reads Playboy?" Journal of Men's Studies, Jan. 31, 2003.

Hylton, Wil S. "Miss Understood." Rolling Stone, Aug. 31, 2000.

Lin, Carol. "Interview with Hugh Hefner." CNN Special, Sept. 20, 2003.