Branson buyng Playboy?
 

damn, I was actually thinking he should be the one to buy Playboy.

Great minds think alike, I guess :)

definitely interesting, wonder if there is any merit

cool beans...i saw him wind surfing in jeju island

he was the only other white guy around

but he had 6 government security dudes with machine guns

i didnt have any

Hef needs to pass the baton and bow out gracefully. Actually he is pretty pathetic now, feel bad for him. He is a walking vegetable.
Branson is a cool kat and a nice fit for the empire.

wow. that's big

Virgin takes the helm at Playboy...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg

It's crazy enough that it just might work - good match!!! :thumbsup

Branson is a marketing genius...much like Hef in his prime. :2 cents:

ADG

Dayum.

At least it would be in good hands.

read it in the today's paper too

What would that make him ? A virgin Playboy ?

Sounds like a good move for both sides.

Very VERY nice.

Will be good to see if Playboy really will become an empire again.

If someone can save it, id bet he could...

Hes is one of the most inspirational people ever.

No college... no nothing... just doing... :pimp

I could be very wrong, but I doubt he's going to touch it.

I'd see a great fit there too. I think Branson have the vision to bring PB back where it belongs :thumbsup

I could not agree more :thumbsup

:2 cents::2 cents:

Unless he had a time machine. That time is over. Playboy is a strong brand but bringing it back to the glory days. it cant happen its a very different time.

- the magazine market is dying
- the DVD market is dying
- adult pay tv is dying
- the readers of Playboy mag are dying
- the young people care more about TMZ etc. and do not replace them

and i doubt that Playboy online compensates that - revenuewise

so - what's left?

The brand.

They have strayed to far away from the core principles in my opinion. Playboy is at heart an adult company that has been accepted by the mainstream world. Thats invaluable. It's sexy, not pornographic. They need to cut the hardcore online companies they bought (adult, jenna, GFY, etc) and concentrate on building the bunny. Playboy clubs outside of Vegas, more Playboy stores, reality TV, entertainment that doesnt have nudity but focuses on the beautiful women and the lifestyle. Make the flagship magazine a loss leader that promotes the rest of the empire. Just to name a few... my :2 cents:

the heirs to the throne, Hef's two teenage sons Martson and Cooper:

http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/19...0.290x438.jpeg

Some good ideas and points but I think sadly its too late.

they both look like Hef but neither is as handsome as Hef was when he was young.
maybe with age they won't look as goofy.

good points - still going to be tough for anybody to find where Playboy fits in today and it will cost a fortune trying. i think they're in no man's land - too soft to compete with the insane amount of hardcore porn on the market in every medium and still regarded as porn by mainstream corporate America to move out of that ghetto.

the brand/logo is the valuable asset. young women far more than young men like Playboy.

Branson would be a great choice - he may be the man to save Playboy. Just glad it's not Donald Trump, I always thought he'd be interested.

sad to see Hef at the end of his life and career with Playboy leave it in such bad times.
i gotta think whatever happens that Hef stays on until his death as the figurehead and in the Mansion. but who knows................

They look gay as fuck.

hope it works out

He has 2 teenager sons...He should hold off until they become 18 so they can keep it in the family. They can sell the Mansion and run it out of an apartment until things pick up again.

I think Obama should bail him out with our Tax Dollars so we can all have a piece of it.
If we can bail out Banks, Cars, AIG, why not Playboy? It's a great asset to America.

Thanks for the laugh.:1orglaugh

some good points, but does it appeal to 21 to 30 year olds? cause this their future consumer group


i read the interview with them in Playboy mag and i doubt they will be able to take over any responsibilities within the next 10 years.

XonDemand
 

I think Sr. Richard Branson would do more for the company then Martson and Cooper

:pimp

:thumbsup

Richard Branson has always been a guy I really look up to and admire. Read his autobiography, its very inspiring.

That will go nicely with his Trains, Contraceptives, Cola, Internet Company etc,etc

Love and Kisses

Virgin Media's Sir Richard Branson a bidder for Playboy?

my bid for $1,000 was turned down :(

You better hope he doesn't buy it. Branson has zero interest in anything adult let alone anything remotely associated with porn.

I tend to agree. Its a different era now.

Playboy was Hef's baby - his heart and soul. He lived and breathed the essence and lifestyle of the empire. All due respect to Branson (and his accomplishments)...but I can't imagine him developing the same passion for the PB philosophy.

I haven't read any of the articles, but on the face of it, I've surmised that Branson is an unlikely candidate to purchase PB. Unless there is inside information I'm unaware of, I don't see what interest Playboy (along with its hardcore properties - adult.com, etc) would hold for a mainstream billionaire. Mainstream fat cats don't typically delve into porn, and the current incarnation of PB is porn since it now owns adult.com, gfy, etc. Secondly, with all his mainstream successes why would he want to attempt to turn around a company in an industry that is being turned upside down (Branson is a music industry man - he knows the pitfalls that the free music revolution has created; porn is a mirror image if not worse).

Even if he were to be successful at putting PB on top again, what would he lose by being associated with porn. Third, he'd always be the rich guy that bought PB - he would never be the "new Hef". He doesn't have the same history or cachet, and doesn't throw the same kinds of parties, and doesn't have groups of naked bunnies all over him.

For the same reasons I doubt Trump would seriously entertain a purchase. Pageants aren't even erotica (not nude erotica, anyway) let alone porn, and the pageants appear to be getting by these days due to controversy created around the contestants, rather than genuine interest in the actual contest.

Yeah PB occupies a unique space which was once its greatest strength but today could be its Achilles’ heel. Before the onslaught of free porn, it was new mainstream men's magazines like Maxim that began eating away at PB's base. I haven't read Maxim in probably a decade (like all mags, I believe they're hurting now - I assume they're still in business), but in college I was reading Maxim, not Playboy.

But I'm just being presumptive. I don't know what calculus Branson is working with, so I could be wrong.