Playboy puts all 57 years of mags online
CHICAGO (AP) — Good news for those who thought their copies of Playboy were gone forever when their moms found them and threw them away.
Playboy launched a Web-based subscription service Thursday called i.Playboy.com that allows viewers to see every single page of every single magazine – from the first issue nearly 60 years ago that featured Marilyn Monroe to the ones hitting the newsstands today.
“They no longer have to store 57 years – 682 issues – of Playboy under their mattress,” said Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy’s chief content officer.
Chicago-based Playboy has seen its circulation plummet from 3.15 million in 2006 to 1.5 million today and has been trying all sorts of gimmicks to attract readers in recent years. One issue, for example, included a set of 3-D glasses to better see a centerfold shot in 3-D; another turned over the cover to a cartoon character, Marge Simpson.