Did Spencer Tunick Shoot Nude Playboy Logo Ad?

Playboy's entire office is moving to LA by May 2012. Created in 1953, Playboy has always been based in Chicago, Hugh Hefner's birthplace. Previously, only the company's publishing team was making the move.

It seems that Playboy has a thing for beaches, expressed in their new ad posted on The Gloss. No photographer credit is given and it may well just be a digital manipulation of many naked women into the Playboy logo, but the style is certainly that of American artist Spencer Tunick, who famously lensed about 5,200 naked people at Sydney's iconic Opera House in 2010.

Google searches about the ad are coming up empty, which is just another example of the digital world moving ahead of Playboy marketing and Publishing execs. Major websites are starting to drive conversation around the ad, and Playboy is mum. Perhaps Hef's team is busy packing boxes, preparing for the big move and unable to multitask.

Bring in the women Hef. Playboy's most recent PR disaster was the early release of the Lindsay Lohan Marilyn Monroe photos by Yu Tsai.

Spencer Tunick's Nude Installations

Spencer Tunick | 5200 Naked People Make Art in Sydney AOC Body

The Gloss expresses a dislike of the Playboy ad -- or a feeling of discomfort -- reflecting that the women look like ants. This quality pervades most of Tunick's work. The controversial photographer has been arrested countless times, hosting installations around the world.

Writing about the Sydney event, Anne said:

Straight and gay participants — including one pregnant woman who postponed her C-section by hours to join the event — expressed the nonsexual nature of the event, while emphasizing its ‘tribal’, humanist vibe.

‘Tribal’ is a bit like ‘sensual’ in that the word implies ‘natural’ which is forbidden and disgusting, according to the patriarchy. The sometimes naked Indians of America and the Latin American women who greeted Columbus with flowers had to be ‘civilized’ by religion — as an example.

In particular, this loathing of the human body and our physicality has haunted — and I argue militarized —  societies in its path.

The Israelis -- who are having massive social conservatives issues of their own with modestly-dressed, eight-year-old girls being called 'prostitutes' on their way to school -- used Tunick for a uniquely ambitious photographic project in late 2011.

Spencer Tunick @ Dead Sea

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Eye | Playboy Rushes Lohan to Newsstands | Andrej Pejic Lingerie Ads

Daily Mail

Lindsay Lohan graces the holiday cover of Playboy January/February 2012, lensed by Yu Tsai with makeup by Francesca Tolot. The DM wrote over the weekend that the hacker who claims responsibility for leaking the entire Playboy photo spread says he found them on a peer-to-peer file sharing site and that they were either hacked or stolen and uploaded via Russia. The link is out there in cyberspace, not hard to find via Google images. We think it's time to take a chill pill, letting Playboy put the images into play. That's not a fear of Playboy attorneys but showing some respect for letting people control their own voices.

In response to the hacking, Playboy has released the images to digital subscribers ahead of schedule and rushed the magazine to newsstands by week's end.

WSJ FN App Asks to Post As ME!!!

I just considered accepting the new WSJ FB app until I read that it not only requested permission to access all my friends and post on my wall -- but to post on my wall as ME, under my name. Talk about misrepresenting the truth!!!

There's no respect for identity and original owners of anything any more, so we're not posting the Playboy images at this time.

The vast majority (99%) of media and photographers and the Flickr Creative Commons not only accept but promote reposting, so I reject the occasional hysterical photographer who is all over bloggers for posting without permission. But taking over total control of the creative, marketing and release timetable of all events -- and now our identities in the case of WSJ's request to use my photo and name to fool readers that the post is coming from me -- is not something we will suppport.

In all honesty, we're not that hard up for page views.

Andrej Pejic's 'Mega Push-Up Bra'

Well, it's not Victoria's Secret, but flat-chected male model Andrej Pejic has scored a lingerie campaign, writes Fashionista, via Frock Writer.

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Crystal Harris As Runaway Bride | Playboy US July 2011

About to write 'Runaway Bride', we thankfully Googled for updates on Crystal Harris calling off her marriage to Hugh Hefner days before the wedding. Playboy couldn't reprint the July issue cover calling Mrs. Crystal Hefner 'America's Princess'.

But Hef did slap a 'Runaway Bride' sticker over his ex-fiancée, so that he can trade on the term first. Not all covers will get the sticker for the issue which is due out tomorrow.

The nuptials, for which no prenup was required explained Hef, were scheduled for this Saturday at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

TMZ reported the breakup on Tuesday, citing music and money as the reasons. Who knows but sources say Crystal was annoyed with her 'couple hundred dollat' weekly allowance and wanted to make her own money. The 25-year-old wants a music career and said she realized it wouldn't be possible married to Hugh Hefner.

Rumors behind the split pointed to an affair Crystal had with daytime TV therapist Dr. Phil McGraw's son, Jordan, but Harris' manager quickly shot it down, saying, "This is pure fabrication. There is no relationship, nor has there ever been one. This is a stupid rumor."

The connection between the Jordan and Crystal first surfaced in March when they were spotted at Chateau Marmont reportedly looking very cozy. Harris' manager explained, "They wrote a song together and that was the extent of their relationship." via Extra

Other rumors are that Harris was offered $500,000 to create a media sensation. The Daily Mail UK reports that in an interview with America's Entertainment Tonight, Crystal Harris said 'I wasn't the only woman in Hef's life. I didn't feel comfortable in my heart knowing that and getting married to him, because a marriage is between two people.' 

The last comment seems believable at least, given Hefner's sexually-open lifestyle that has always involved multiple women.

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Curves Ahead | Classic Playboy Bunny Video | Olivier Zahm's Lens on Women

Design

Heat Wave

Summer's Best Swimsuits WSJ

Michael Kors swimsuit, Christian Dior sunglassesLiving

Old-Fashioned Hip Hop

Marchesa Designs a One-Off Playboy Bunny Outfit for Charity Racked National

The new London Playboy Club opening on June 4th will feature bunnies dressed in uniforms by Marchesa.

"We've taken our inspiration from the original costume but added Marchesa's signature details, such as hand draping and embroidery, while staying true to the Playboy Bunny's classic corset silhouette," said designer Georgina Chapman.

In a followup move, designers Keren Craig and Georgina Chapman collaborated with Playboy to create a one-off Playboy Bunny outfit that will be auctioned off in October to raise money for breast cancer awareness.

More reading: 'Eff Off Hef' Women plan protests as Hugh Hefner Playboy club prepares to open in Mayfair West End Extra

Daily | American Girls for Sale | Vatican AIDS Conference AOC Front Page

NBC Orders PLAYBOY to Pilot Collider.com

NBC issued its first pilot order for this development season to Playboy.  According to Variety, the script comes from Chad Hodge (Tru Calling) and centers on a group of women working in the New York Playboy club in the 1960s.  Naturally, the time and place of the setting will be used to explore the nation’s coming sexual revolution.

Classic Playboy Bunnies

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Hugh Hefner Takes Total Control of Playboy Enterprises

Hugh Hefner has retaken total control of Playboy Enterprises, just days after announcing his engagement to 24-year-old Playboy bunny Crystal Harris.

The 84-year-old founder of Playboy bought back the remaining 30% of shares of Playboy Enterprises for $6.15 a share, valuing Playboy Enterprises at a small $207 million.

In 1999 at the top of the Internet bubble, Playboy was valued at $1 billion.

Television is currently the company's biggest earner, says The Economist, accounting for 40% of revenues.

Chief Executive Officer Scott Flanders told Bloomberg that Playboy is looking for a deal in producing a three-dimensional adult channel.

FriendFinder Networks Inc., which publishes Penthouse magazine and also owns Adult Friend Finder said that it would start a 3-D adult channel.

FriendFinder made a bid to buy into Playboy but was rejected by Hefner.

Sensuality Trends | Will Padma Lakshmi & Indian Fashion Media Be Influential?

Padma Lakshmi | 'Mother Superior' | Vogue India January 2011 AOC Body | Beauty | Culture

X-posted at Sensuality News FP| Thinking out loud about several fashionistas saying they don't like Vogue India because it reminds them of GQ, we put on our New Eroticism had, thinking about the future impact of India and Brazil on sensuality in fashion.

China's Hong Kong/Shanghai love of splendor and luxury seems that it will rule, more so than sensuality. We'll see.

What is worth looking at are the sensually splendid images of Irene Hoek that we accidentally discovered while writing about Padma Lakshmi. We swear! Lord help us!

Seriously, this is not Hugh Hefner's Playboy. Way too classy! Irene Hoek is true Hot Sauce.

Irene Hoek | 'Temme naslada' | Playboy Slovenia Sept 2010 | NSFW Sensuality News Provocateurs

Playboy's Frat Boy History of Grading and Defacing Beautiful Women

Note| major nudity| By now most of you know that I am a really modern woman with an open mind on most sexual matters. In my 10-year career at Victoria’s Secret, I was exposed to plenty of model images and marketing decisions around photography for windows and national ad campaigns.

My beat was product, design, and merchandising — not marketing, but I attended key meetings involving raw, unretouched Victoria’s Secret model images. I've worked with clients on major ad campaigns in lingerie that requried retouching.

I have never seen a group of images like these, one that say so much about the American sexual psyche, when the subject is female body image. They are a stunning commentary on our culture, probably the most provocative I've ever seen.

With me, there is no issue about the nudity or the Playboy brand. I support eroticism and nude fashion photography. My sadness is the graffiti and grading, the rearranging and improving of truly beautiful, real women for the visual appetities of men.

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