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Marge Simpson Poses For Playboy

caffiend666 writes "'Marge Simpson is posing for Playboy . The magazine is giving the star of The Simpsons the star treatment, complete with a data sheet, an interview and a 2-page centerfold. 'We knew that this would really appeal to the 20-something crowd,' said Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey. Playboy even convinced 7-Eleven to carry the magazine in its 1,200 corporate-owned stores, something the company has only done once before in more than 20 years." Worst issue ever!

21 of 413 comments (clear)

  1. Wow . . . by AshtangiMan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Playboy has to jump the shark?

    1. Re:Wow . . . by mcmonkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Playboy jumped the shark loooooong time ago.

      I found the quote about appealing to 20-somethings particularly funny for a couple reasons.

      A 20-something has never seen a relevant current issue of Playboy, and likely cannot remember a relevant current episode of The Simpsons.

      I mean, I think The Simpsons is still funny, but the time when it was ground breaking entertainment spurring on social examination of how the modern American family is portrayed on television, those days are long gone.

      And I don't mean to make a lot of folks feel old, but Simpsons has been on the air for 20 years. The big fans are not 20-somethings anymore. We're 30- and 40-somethings.

      (And we get our pr0n on the internet.)

    2. Re:Wow . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      so if im like ...duhhh .. i dunno like lets say 24 .. and it's been on the air like .. duhhhh ... 20 yrs ..... wouldn't that mean that i grew up with this shit... and uh ... you know prolly watched more episodes then u ever did?

    3. Re:Wow . . . by Hatta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I grew up looking at playboy in my teens in the 90s. Now I look back on issues from the 60s and 70s and damn it was so much better back then.

      As for the Simpsons, the fans of the current show are younger. They don't know how good it was and how far it's fallen. Maybe there's a similar dynamic at work with Playboy.

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    4. Re:Wow . . . by Dahamma · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A 20-something has never seen a relevant current issue of Playboy, and likely cannot remember a relevant current episode of The Simpsons. ...
      Simpsons has been on the air for 20 years. The big fans are not 20-somethings anymore. We're 30- and 40-somethings.

      Very definitive statements, but they are just not true...

      30 seconds of searching shows that the Simpsons still consistently ranks #1 or #2 in its timeslot among teens, 18-34, and 18-49 demographics. And a less scientific but still valid point is that among about a dozen of my younger cousins in the age range of 10-30 I don't know a single one who isn't a Simpsons fan. I know plenty of people who watch the Simpsons with their kids - which is probably part of the reason it IS so popular among such a wide demographic after all these years...

      Do you really think a major publication like Playboy, a major network like Fox, and a major retail chain like 7-11 would launch a campaign like this without doing at least 30 seconds of trivial demographic research?

    5. Re:Wow . . . by roguetrick · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Simpsons social commentary is transparent when you're ten. The only cartoon that beats your head with it more is Southpark.

      --
      -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
    6. Re:Wow . . . by Darinbob · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, the 20-something point is valid. Most of them are probably thinking "you mean you want me to actually PAY for porn?"

  2. For crying out loud; by fridaynightsmoke · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At the risk of being modded down furiously, I would like to express my opinion on this:
    1) Cartoons are seldom sexy
    2) The Simpsons jumped the shark years ago. Since then it has been repeatedly jumping the shark, again and again, once every day at least in the vain hope that somebody notices that it has jumped the shark. So far very few people have.
    3) Cross-promoting press release opportunities like this bore me to tears. I can understand Slashdot covering this, but I have seen this "news" in 'serious' newspapers. FFS.
    That is all.

    --
    This is a substitute for a clever sig that fits within the maximum number of characters.
  3. Re:A switch for Playboy... by the4thdimension · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A lot of their issues have always contained some kind of explicit cartoon - this time they are just taking it to another degree.

  4. Seems odd . . . by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This seems very unexpected. Not that Playboy would do it, or even that people would buy it, but rather than the owners of the Simpson's copyright (I presume Fox?) would agree to it.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re:Seems odd . . . by wizardforce · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, Fox probably still likes money and the Simpsons isn't the cash cow it once was so... I'm thinking that Playboy dangled cash in front of Fox and Fox couldn't say "no."

      --
      Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    2. Re:Seems odd . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I beg to differ: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=simpsons.htm

    3. Re:Seems odd . . . by jandrese · · Score: 4, Insightful

      She also painted Mr. Burns in the buff, so she can't be that prudish.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  5. Next issue... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm waiting for Leela and Amy.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  6. Re:Good luck with that by wizardforce · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Playboy is portable and doesn't require internet access or power. I predict that it's still quite popular with that crowd.

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
  7. Re:must buy by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know? I thought the same thing back when Madonna showed up in a Playboy spread... then I saw the armpit hair. We're not talking just a little bit, either... there was enough in there to supply an entire Lilith Fair audience.

    Sometimes, there are things in this world that you just do not want to see, curiosity be damned.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  8. Re:As a 20-something... by Afforess · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's even funnier though because this story is right above "FOSS Sexism Claims Met With Ire and Denial."

    --
    If our elected representatives no longer represent us, do we still live in a Democracy?
  9. Re:As a 20-something... by Mooga · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They are trying to draw in a younger audience they their traditional readers (who are getting old). Personally, as a 20-something, I wouldn't be attracted to it as much as disturbed by it. That fact that BOTH Playboy and whoever currently owns the rights to the Simpsons thought it was a good idea is proof that they are BOTH in a lot of trouble. I have no motivation at all in seeing a "sexy" Marge Simpson. I think they confused "20-something" and "Anime Perverts." HUGE difference.

    --
    ~ Mooga
  10. Wanted to moderate but... by JimboFBX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I really wanted to spend my mod points here but was disappointed nobody pointed this out:

    *ahem*

    How many other Playboy models feature hideous bug-eyes, a monstrous overbite, chimp-like ears, and freakish bee-hive hair?

    And to throw in my own opinion: Remember folks, the picture was drawn by someone who probably resembles comic-book guy! Yeah!

  11. Re:As a 20-something... by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I just don't get why *this* issue is supposed to appeal to 20 somethings when the usual magazine full of naked women doesn't?

  12. Re:As a 20-something... by Doug52392 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because no one in their 20s BUYS pornography anymore.